CVE-2021-27741
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" Security vulnerability in HCL Commerce Management Center allowing XML external entity (XXE) 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 confidenceHCL Commerce Management Center fails to properly secure XML parsing, allowing attackers to inject malicious external entity references into XML input. This XXE vulnerability enables attackers to read local files, perform server-side request forgery (SSRF), or cause denial of service by crafting specially designed XML payloads that the application's parser processes unsafely.
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>= 8.0.4.0, <= 8.0.4.26>= 9.0.1.0, <= 9.0.1.15>= 9.1, <= 9.1.5CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify HCL Commerce versionLocate and read the version file or use the HCL Commerce administration console to determine the exact installed version (for example, check the 'About' page or version.properties file in the installation directory)Affected if The installed version falls within 8.0.4.0-8.0.4.26, 9.0.1.0-9.0.1.15, or 9.1-9.1.5
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Verify Management Center is accessibleConfirm that the HCL Commerce Management Center web interface is deployed and reachable (typically at a path like /managementcenter or /acce)Affected if Management Center is installed and accessible over the network
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Identify XML parsers in useReview application configuration files and Java deployment descriptors (such as web.xml, spring configs, or custom XML handler configurations) to locate XML parsing implementations used by Management CenterAffected if XML parsers are configured and processing XML input in Management Center
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Check for external entity configurationInspect XML parser settings in configuration files for properties such as 'externalEntityEnabled', 'processExternalEntities', or similar flags that control external entity processingAffected if External entity processing is enabled or not explicitly disabled in parser configuration
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Check for DTD processing configurationExamine XML parser settings for 'allowDTD', 'prohibitDTD', or 'externalDTD' configuration to determine if Document Type Definition processing is permittedAffected if DTD processing is allowed in the XML parser configuration
A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable HCL Commerce version (8.0.4.x, 9.0.1.x, or 9.1.x) with Management Center enabled and XML parsers that have external entity or DTD processing enabled.
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.
dbcve · scopedDisable external entity processing and DTD processing in all XML parsers used by the Management Center application; implement input validation and use safe XML parser configurations with entity expansion limits and external entity references disabled.
Upgrade to HCL Commerce 8.0.4.27 or later; 9.0.1.16 or later; or 9.1.6 or later (or the latest available stable release within your major version branch)
- 1. Identify the current HCL Commerce version in use by checking the version information in HCL Commerce Manager or the installation directory.
- 2. Review the HCL Commerce version against the affected ranges: 8.0.4.0-8.0.4.26, 9.0.1.0-9.0.1.15, or 9.1.0-9.1.5.
- 3. If running an affected version, plan for an upgrade to a fixed release (see upgrade_path).
- 4. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade process.
- 5. Back up the current HCL Commerce database and configuration files before proceeding.
- 6. Perform the upgrade following HCL Commerce upgrade documentation for your specific version path.
- 7. After upgrade, verify that Management Center is functioning correctly and the XXE vulnerability is resolved.
- 8. Test XML import functionality in Management Center to confirm normal operations.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-27741 — 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-2021-27741 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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