dbcve.org
Outside In TechnologyApplication · Oracle

CVE-2021-2420

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-07-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Vulnerability in the Oracle Outside In Technology product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Outside In Filters). The supported version that is affected is 8.5.5. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Oracle Outside In Technology. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle Outside In Technology. Note: Outside In Technology is a suite of software development kits (SDKs). The protocol and CVSS Base Score depend on the software that uses Outside In Technology. The CVSS score assumes that the software passes data received over a network directly to Outside In Technology, but if data is not received over a network the CVSS score may be lower. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 7.5 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

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

Vulnerability in Oracle Outside In Technology's filter component (version 8.5.5) allows unauthenticated remote attackers to cause a denial of service via HTTP requests. The Outside In Technology is a suite of SDKs that other Oracle Fusion Middleware products use to parse and filter file data; the vulnerability occurs when data passed to these filters triggers a crash or hang condition.

MitigationApply Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) containing the fix for CVE-2021-2420. If network exposure is not required, restrict network access to systems using Outside In Technology to reduce attack surface.

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
Outside In TechnologyApplication
Affected:= 8.5.5

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Oracle Outside In Technology installation
    Identify if Oracle Outside In Technology SDK is installed on the system. This is typically bundled with Oracle Fusion Middleware products such as Oracle WebCenter Content, Oracle Content Management, or other products that require file parsing capabilities. Check for the presence of Outside In Technology components in the Oracle inventory or product directories.
    Affected if The product is installed and the version is exactly 8.5.5
  2. Verify the exact version number
    Locate and inspect the version information for the Oracle Outside In Technology installation. The affected version is specifically 8.5.5. Check Oracle inventory files, product-specific about pages, or version documentation that ships with the installation.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 8.5.5
  3. Identify products using Outside In filters
    Determine which Oracle Fusion Middleware products are installed that depend on Outside In Technology. These products use the filter component to parse and process file data. Check the Oracle inventory for products like WebCenter Content, Content Server, or other components that leverage the Outside In SDKs.
    Affected if Any product using the Outside In filter component is installed with version 8.5.5
  4. Assess HTTP exposure of filter functionality
    Evaluate whether the filter component is accessible via HTTP requests. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to cause denial of service through HTTP requests to the filters. Check network configuration, firewall rules, and exposed endpoints for services that route file data through Outside In filters.
    Affected if The filter component is network-accessible via HTTP and accepts requests from untrusted sources

You are affected if Oracle Outside In Technology version 8.5.5 is installed and its filter component is accessible via HTTP requests from network sources.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) containing the fix for CVE-2021-2420. If network exposure is not required, restrict network access to systems using Outside In Technology to reduce attack surface.

Fix this in Outside In Technology Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2021-2420 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