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InfinityApplication · Pega

CVE-2021-27651

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-04-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 8.5.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
High EPSS 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
In versions 8.2.1 through 8.5.2 of Pega Infinity, the password reset functionality for local accounts can be used to bypass local authentication checks.

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

Pega Infinity versions 8.2.1 through 8.5.2 contain a flaw in the password reset functionality for local accounts that allows attackers to bypass local authentication checks, potentially granting unauthorized access to the system without valid credentials.

MitigationUpgrade Pega Infinity to version 8.5.3 or later, which contains the vendor patch for this authentication bypass vulnerability.

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
InfinityApplication
Affected:>= 8.2.1, <= 8.5.2

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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. Identify Pega Infinity version
    Access the Pega Admin console or check the prengine.xml/manifest file in the Pega installation directory to determine the exact version number of the deployed Pega Infinity instance
    Affected if The installed version falls within 8.2.1 through 8.5.2 (inclusive)
  2. Verify local authentication is enabled
    Check the Pega authentication configuration (Authentication Service rule) to determine if local account authentication (as opposed to SSO, LDAP, or SAML) is configured for the system
    Affected if Local authentication is enabled and the system uses local Pega accounts for user login
  3. Confirm password reset feature is accessible
    Navigate to the Pega login page and verify the 'Forgot Password' or password reset option is available for local users, or inspect the authentication service rules to confirm password reset functionality is not disabled
    Affected if The password reset functionality for local accounts is exposed or enabled
  4. Compare version against affected range
    Document the exact version number and confirm it is >= 8.2.1 AND <= 8.5.2
    Affected if The version is 8.2.1, 8.5.2, or any version in between these bounds

If Pega Infinity version is between 8.2.1 and 8.5.2 inclusive AND local authentication with password reset is enabled, the environment is affected by this authentication bypass vulnerability

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 a release after 8.5.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Pega Infinity to version 8.5.3 or later, which contains the vendor patch for this authentication bypass vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Pega Infinity 8.5.3 or later

  1. 1. Identify all Pega Infinity instances running versions 8.2.1 through 8.5.2 in your environment
  2. 2. Review Pega Infinity release notes and patches available from Pega Support (collaborate.pega.com) for version 8.5.3 or later
  3. 3. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade
  4. 4. Back up the Pega Infinity database and configuration files before upgrading
  5. 5. Upgrade Pega Infinity to version 8.5.3 or the latest stable release available from Pega
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify that local authentication is functioning correctly
  7. 7. Test the password reset functionality to confirm the vulnerability is remediated
  8. 8. Review Pega authentication logs to ensure no exploitation occurred prior to patching
Caveat Review release notes for that version; minor upgrades typically have minimal breaking changes but test in non-production first

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

Fix this in Infinity 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-2021-27651 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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