CVE-2021-21018
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 · uneditedMagento 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 scheduled operation module. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary 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 confidenceOS command injection vulnerability in Magento 2's scheduled operation (cron) module allows authenticated admin users to inject and execute arbitrary OS commands, leading to full system compromise.
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< 2.3.6= 2.3.6= 2.4.0= 2.4.1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine installed Magento 2 versionRun command: php bin/magento --version or check composer.json for 'version' field in the magento/product-community-edition or magento/enterprise-edition packageAffected if Version is 2.3.6, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, or any version below 2.3.6 (e.g., 2.3.5, 2.3.4, etc.)
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Verify cron module is configuredCheck if cron jobs are set up for Magento: look for cron jobs in crontab for the web server user (crontab -l) or check the Magento admin panel under Stores > Configuration > Advanced > Cron configurationAffected if Cron is enabled and scheduled tasks are running - the vulnerability exists only in the cron module context
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Confirm admin access existsCheck for active admin users in the database: SELECT username FROM admin_user; or log into the admin panel to verify admin accounts are presentAffected if At least one authenticated admin user account exists - exploitation requires admin-level authentication
You are affected if your Magento 2 version is 2.3.6, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, or any version below 2.3.6 AND you have cron jobs enabled AND you have at least one admin user account configured.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped2.3.6
Apply vendor-supplied security patches or upgrade to patched Magento versions; enforce least-privilege admin access and audit admin accounts.
Magento 2.3.7 or Magento 2.4.2
- 1. Back up your Magento database and files completely
- 2. Enable maintenance mode: bin/magento maintenance:enable
- 3. Run composer update to upgrade Magento packages: composer require magento/product-community-edition=2.3.7 --no-update
- 4. Update composer.json to specify version 2.3.7 for community edition
- 5. Run composer update to install the new version
- 6. Clear the cache: bin/magento cache:clean
- 7. Run database migrations if needed: bin/magento setup:upgrade
- 8. Reindex data: bin/magento indexer:reindex
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,680.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-21018 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-21018 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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