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Application Lifecycle ManagementApplication · Microfocus

CVE-2021-22498

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-01-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 15.0.1 or later.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
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
XML External Entity Injection vulnerability in Micro Focus Application Lifecycle Management (Previously known as Quality Center) product. The vulnerability affects versions 12.x, 12.60 Patch 5 and earlier, 15.0.1 Patch 2 and earlier and 15.5. The vulnerability could be exploited to allow an XML External Entity Injection.

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

XML External Entity Injection (XXE) vulnerability in Micro Focus Application Lifecycle Management (Quality Center) allows attackers to inject malicious XML containing external entity references, potentially enabling disclosure of local files or server-side request forgery (SSRF) against internal systems.

MitigationApply vendor patches for affected versions (12.60 Patch 6+, 15.0.1 Patch 3+, 15.5.1+) or upgrade to latest version. If patching is immediately unavailable, consider disabling external entity processing in the XML parser configuration as a temporary workaround.

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
Application Lifecycle ManagementApplication
Affected:>= 12.50, <= 12.60>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.1= 12.60= 15.0.1= 15.5

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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 Micro Focus ALM installation
    Locate the Micro Focus Application Lifecycle Management or Quality Center installation directory, typically under C:\Program Files\Micro Focus\ or /opt/microfocus/ on Linux. Check for the presence of the Quality Center or ALM application binaries and services.
    Affected if The product is not installed or not the targeted Application Lifecycle Management product.
  2. Identify installed ALM version
    Access the ALM/Quality Center About page via the web interface (typically /qcbin/About.html) or check the installation directory for version.txt or registry entries. Note the exact version number (e.g., 12.60, 15.0.1, 15.5).
    Affected if The installed version falls within 12.50 to 12.60 inclusive, 15.0.0 to 15.0.1 inclusive, or matches 12.60, 15.0.1, or 15.5.
  3. Check if XML import or upload features are accessible
    Identify if users can submit or import XML files through ALM features such as test management, requirements import, or document attachments. Log in as a standard user and attempt to locate XML upload functionality or API endpoints that accept XML content.
    Affected if XML import/upload features are accessible to authenticated users and the application processes uploaded XML without disabling external entity resolution.
  4. Review XML parser configuration (if accessible)
    Locate XML parser configuration files within the ALM installation directory, typically in conf or config subdirectories. Check for settings related to external entity processing, DTD handling, or XXE protection. Common files may include web.xml or application configuration XML files.
    Affected if The XML parser configuration does not explicitly disable external entity (DTD) processing or is using a vulnerable parser configuration.

You are affected if Micro Focus ALM or Quality Center is installed and the version falls within 12.50-12.60, 15.0.0-15.0.1, or is exactly 12.60, 15.0.1, or 15.5, and XML import/upload functionality is available to 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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 15.0.1
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patches for affected versions (12.60 Patch 6+, 15.0.1 Patch 3+, 15.5.1+) or upgrade to latest version. If patching is immediately unavailable, consider disabling external entity processing in the XML parser configuration as a temporary workaround.

Fix this in Application Lifecycle Management Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,900
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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-2021-22498 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