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3scale Api ManagementApplication · Redhat

CVE-2021-20252

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-02-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A flaw was found in Red Hat 3scale API Management Platform 2. The 3scale backend does not perform preventive handling on user-requested date ranges in certain queries allowing a malicious authenticated user to submit a request with a sufficiently large date range to eventually yield an internal server error resulting in denial of service. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A denial-of-service vulnerability in Red Hat 3scale API Management Platform 2 where the backend fails to validate or limit user-supplied date ranges in queries, allowing authenticated users to request excessively large date ranges that exhaust resources and trigger internal server errors.

MitigationImplement input validation to enforce maximum allowable date range limits per query, and add query timeout/abort mechanisms to prevent resource exhaustion from large range requests.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
3scale Api ManagementApplication
Affected:= 2.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm 3scale is installed
    Check for 3scale components in the environment: look for '3scale' in running container names, Kubernetes pods, or installed packages. Common locations: /opt/3scale, /var/www/3scale, or Docker/Kubernetes namespaces containing '3scale' or 'apicast'.
    Affected if 3scale API Management is not present in the environment, the vulnerability does not apply.
  2. Verify the 3scale version
    Check the installed version by running: '3scale version' or inspect the version file in the 3scale installation directory. In containerized deployments, check the image tag: 'docker images | grep 3scale' or 'kubectl get pods -n <namespace> -o jsonpath="{.items[*].spec.containers[*].image}"'.
    Affected if The version is exactly 2.0, the system is affected. Versions other than 2.0 are not within the scope of this CVE.
  3. Identify exposed API backend endpoints
    Review the 3scale backend configuration files (typically in /etc/3scale/backend.yml or through the admin portal under: Product -> Integration -> Configuration). Look for API backend URLs and endpoints that accept query parameters.
    Affected if The backend API is not exposed or no endpoints accept date range parameters, the attack surface is not present.
  4. Locate date-range-accepting endpoints
    Examine API definitions (OpenAPI/Swagger specs) or backend route configurations for parameters that accept dates or date ranges, such as 'start_date', 'end_date', 'from', 'to', 'date_from', 'date_to', or similar query parameters.
    Affected if No endpoints accept date range parameters, the vulnerability cannot be exploited through those paths.
  5. Review backend access logs for large date ranges
    Check 3scale backend logs (typically /var/log/3scale/backend.log or via 'kubectl logs <backend-pod> -n <namespace>') for incoming requests with unusually large date ranges in query parameters. Search for patterns like '?start_date=2010-01-01&end_date=2025-01-01' or similar extensive ranges.
    Affected if Logs show requests with excessively large date ranges causing 500 errors or resource exhaustion, the vulnerability has been exploited.

The environment is affected only if 3scale API Management version 2.0 is installed, the backend is exposed, and API endpoints accept date range parameters that can be queried by authenticated users.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement input validation to enforce maximum allowable date range limits per query, and add query timeout/abort mechanisms to prevent resource exhaustion from large range requests.

Fix this in 3scale Api Management Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-20252 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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