CVE-2021-22553
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 · uneditedAny git operation is passed through Jetty and a session is created. No expiry is set for the session and Jetty does not automatically dispose of the session. Over multiple git actions, this can lead to a heap memory exhaustion for Gerrit servers. We recommend upgrading Gerrit to any of the versions listed above.
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 confidenceGit operations on Gerrit servers create Jetty sessions without any expiration timeout. Since Jetty does not automatically dispose of these sessions and no session expiry is configured, repeated git operations cause session objects to accumulate in heap memory until the server becomes unresponsive.
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< 2.15.22>= 2.16.0, < 2.16.26>= 3.0.0, < 3.0.16>= 3.1.0, < 3.1.12>= 3.2.0, < 3.2.7>= 3.3.0, < 3.3.2CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine installed Gerrit versionRun `gerrit version` or check the Gerrit web UI footer for the version number. Alternatively, check the gerrit.war file modification date or review your package manager history.Affected if The version falls within < 2.15.22; >= 2.16.0, < 2.16.26; >= 3.0.0, < 3.0.16; >= 3.1.0, < 3.1.12; >= 3.2.0, < 3.2.7; or >= 3.3.0, < 3.3.2
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Locate Gerrit Jetty configuration filesFind the gerrit.config or jetty.xml file in your Gerrit installation directory (commonly under $site_path/etc or $gerrit_home/var/jetty).Affected if The configuration files exist and are readable for inspection.
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Inspect Jetty session configurationExamine the web.xml or jetty.xml file for a <session-config> element. Look specifically for a <session-timeout> setting within that element.Affected if Either no <session-config> element exists, or the <session-timeout> element is missing or set to an unbounded value (such as -1 or 0), meaning sessions never expire automatically.
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Monitor heap memory growth patternIf you have access to JConsole, VisualVM, or Gerrit's metrics endpoint, observe the heap memory usage over time, particularly after performing multiple git operations (clone, fetch, push).Affected if Heap memory continuously increases without returning to baseline between git operations, indicating session accumulation.
You are affected if your Gerrit version is in the listed vulnerable ranges AND your Jetty session configuration lacks a proper session-timeout value that would cause sessions to expire.
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 data2.15.222.16.263.0.16
Upgrade Gerrit to a patched version that implements proper session expiration or garbage collection, and verify git operations function normally after the upgrade.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-22553 — 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-2021-22553 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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