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MagentoCMS

CVE-2021-21019

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 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 XML injection in the Widgets 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 confidence

This is an XML injection vulnerability in Magento's Widgets module. The vulnerability allows authenticated attackers with admin console access to inject malicious XML content, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution through XML parser exploitation.

MitigationApply the official Adobe security patches for CVE-2021-21019 or update to a patched Magento version. Restrict admin console access to trusted personnel and follow the principle of least privilege.

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:3.1/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. Determine installed Magento version
    Run 'bin/magento --version' from the Magento root directory, or check the version field in composer.json
    Affected if The version is 2.3.6, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, or any version below 2.3.6
  2. Verify the Widgets module is enabled
    Run 'bin/magento module:status Magento_Widget' or inspect app/etc/config.php for 'Magento_Widget' => 1
    Affected if The Magento_Widget module is enabled (value is 1)
  3. Confirm admin console access exists
    Review admin user accounts via 'bin/magento admin:user:list' or check that admin authentication is configured and accessible
    Affected if Any admin user account exists with access to the admin console
  4. Check for unusual XML widget configurations
    Inspect the database table 'widget_instance' or export widget configurations via admin panel for any unexpected XML content
    Affected if Unexpected or suspicious XML content is found in widget configurations

You are affected if your Magento installation version is 2.3.6 or below, or is exactly 2.4.0 or 2.4.1, AND the Widgets module is enabled, AND admin console access is available in your environment.

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 security patches for CVE-2021-21019 or update to a patched Magento version. Restrict admin console access to trusted personnel and follow the principle of least privilege.

Recommended fix High confidence

Magento 2.3.7 (for 2.3.x branch) or Magento 2.4.2 (for 2.4.x branch)

  1. 1. Backup your Magento database and filesystem before proceeding with any upgrade.
  2. 2. Place your Magento site in maintenance mode using: bin/magento maintenance:enable
  3. 3. Upgrade Magento to version 2.3.7 for the 2.3.x branch, or version 2.4.2 for the 2.4.x branch using Composer: composer require magento/product-community-edition=2.3.7 --no-update (or 2.4.2 for 2.4.x)
  4. 4. Run composer update to fetch the new packages.
  5. 5. Clear the cache and regenerate the di compile: bin/magento cache:flush && bin/magento setup:di:compile
  6. 6. Upgrade the database schema: bin/magento setup:upgrade
  7. 7. Set file permissions appropriately after upgrade.
  8. 8. Disable maintenance mode: bin/magento maintenance:disable
Caveat Upgrading Magento versions may require compatibility checks with custom themes and extensions; review extension compatibility before upgrading

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

Fix this in Magento Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,440
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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-2021-21019 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