CVE-2021-21490
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 · uneditedSAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP (Web Survey), versions - 700, 702, 710, 711, 730, 731, 750, 750, 752, 75A, 75F, does not sufficiently encode input and output parameters which results in reflected cross site scripting vulnerability, through which a malicious user can access data relating to the current session and use it to impersonate a user and access all information with the same rights as the target user.
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 confidenceReflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP Web Survey component. The application fails to properly encode input and output parameters, allowing injection of malicious scripts that execute in the context of a user's session, potentially enabling session hijacking and unauthorized data access.
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= 75a= 75f= 700= 702= 710= 711= 730= 731= 750= 752CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
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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Identify SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP versionLog into SAP system and execute transaction code SM51, or use transaction code /n/iwfnd/maint_service to check system version information. Alternatively, use SAPMMC or SAP kernel version check.Affected if Installed version matches any of: 75a, 75f, 700, 702, 710, 711, 730, 731, 750, or 752
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Confirm Web Survey component is activeUse transaction code SICF to verify the Web Survey ICF service node is active. Navigate to path /sap/bc/webdynpro/sap/web_survey or check for Web Survey related ICF nodes.Affected if Web Survey ICF service is published and accessible via HTTP/HTTPS
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Check Web Survey parameter handlingAccess the Web Survey application through a browser and inspect the HTTP request/response for parameters. Look for lack of output encoding in the application response by examining the HTML source of the rendered page.Affected if Input parameters are reflected in the response without proper HTML encoding (showing raw unescaped characters)
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Verify session cookie attributesInspect the session cookies set by the Web Survey application using browser developer tools. Check if HttpOnly and Secure flags are properly set.Affected if Session cookies lack HttpOnly or Secure flags, or parameters are processed without SameSite attributes
User is affected if the installed SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP version is one of the listed vulnerable versions AND the Web Survey component is active with unencoded parameter reflection in responses.
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.
From vendor dataApply SAP security patches for this vulnerability. In the interim, implement input validation and output encoding on Web Survey parameters, and consider restricting Web Survey access until the patch is applied.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-21490 — 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-2021-21490 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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- 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
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