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MagentoCMS

CVE-2021-21016

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2021-02-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.3.6 or later.
See remediation →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Magento versions 2.4.1 (and earlier), 2.4.0-p1 (and earlier) and 2.3.6 (and earlier) are vulnerable to OS command injection via the WebAPI. Successful exploitation could lead to remote code execution by an authenticated attacker. Access to the admin console is required for successful exploitation.

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 · high confidence

Magento versions 2.4.1 and earlier, 2.4.0-p1 and earlier, and 2.3.6 and earlier contain an OS command injection vulnerability in the WebAPI component. An authenticated attacker with admin console access can inject arbitrary OS commands through the WebAPI, potentially achieving full remote code execution on the server.

MitigationApply the official Adobe Magento security patch or upgrade to Magento 2.4.2 / 2.3.7 or later. Restrict admin console access to trusted personnel and monitor for suspicious WebAPI activity.

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
MagentoCMS
Affected:< 2.3.6= 2.3.6= 2.4.0= 2.4.1

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/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. Identify installed Magento version
    Log into the admin panel and navigate to System > About Magento, or check the composer.json file in the Magento root directory for the 'version' field
    Affected if The installed version is 2.3.6, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, or any version lower than 2.3.6, or 2.4.0-p1 or lower
  2. Confirm WebAPI module is enabled
    Run the command 'php bin/magento module:status' or check app/etc/config.php for the module 'Magento_Webapi' being set to 1
    Affected if The Magento_Webapi module is enabled (which is the default configuration)
  3. Verify admin console is accessible
    Check if the admin URL (typically /admin or /backend) is reachable from untrusted networks, or review admin user accounts and access controls
    Affected if The admin console is accessible to users who are not explicitly trusted or authorized
  4. Inspect WebAPI access logs
    Review logs in var/log/ and especially look at API access logs for any unexpected or unauthorized API calls, particularly those involving system commands or file operations
    Affected if There are API requests from admin users that appear suspicious, involve system commands, or originate from unexpected IP addresses

You are affected if your Magento installation runs version 2.3.6 or earlier, 2.4.0 through 2.4.1, or any 2.4.0-p1 and earlier, AND the WebAPI module is enabled AND the admin console is accessible to an untrusted user.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.3.6 or later
Fixed in 2.3.6
Interim mitigation

Apply the official Adobe Magento security patch or upgrade to Magento 2.4.2 / 2.3.7 or later. Restrict admin console access to trusted personnel and monitor for suspicious WebAPI activity.

Recommended fix High confidence

Magento 2.3.7 or 2.4.2 (or latest 2.3.x/2.4.x stable release)

  1. 1. Back up the current Magento database and codebase
  2. 2. Enable maintenance mode: bin/magento maintenance:enable
  3. 3. Run composer update to upgrade Magento packages: composer require magento/product-community-edition=2.3.7 --no-update
  4. 4. Update composer dependencies: composer update
  5. 5. Clear the cache: bin/magento cache:clean
  6. 6. Run the upgrade scripts: bin/magento setup:upgrade
  7. 7. Compile dependency injection: bin/magento setup:di:compile
  8. 8. Deploy static content: bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy
Caveat Minor version upgrades typically have minimal breaking changes; review Adobe Magento release notes for any deprecated features or configuration changes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Magento Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-21016 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data