CVE-2021-28626
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 · uneditedAdobe Experience Manager Cloud Service offering, as well as versions 6.5.8.0 (and below) is affected by an Improper Authorization vulnerability allowing users to create nodes under a location. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to cause an application denial-of-service. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction.
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 confidenceImproper Authorization vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager Cloud Service and versions 6.5.8.0 (and below) allows unauthenticated attackers to create nodes under unauthorized locations, potentially causing application denial-of-service. Exploitation requires no user interaction.
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<= 6.5.8.0CVSS 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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Identify if Adobe Experience Manager is installedCheck for AEM installation directories or running services. Common paths include /opt/aem, /crx, or look for AEM processes via 'ps aux | grep aem' or 'java' processes with AEM-related class names.Affected if AEM is present in the environment
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Determine the installed AEM versionAccess the AEM welcome page and navigate to Help > About Adobe Experience Manager, or check the version.properties file in the crx-quickstart folder. Alternatively, query the Sling engine using the /system/console/about endpoint.Affected if The installed version is 6.5.8.0 or below, or it is Cloud Service (any version)
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Verify if anonymous or unauthenticated access is allowed for node creationCheck repository permissions in AEM by reviewing the Apache Jackrabbit Oak security configuration at /system/console/jcr or the repository.xml file. Inspect the Jackrabbit security settings in the Apache Felix Web Console.Affected if Anonymous users or unauthenticated requests have write permissions to repository paths outside the expected /content and /var directories
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Inspect the JCR (Java Content Repository) node creation ACLsReview the Access Control List (ACL) configurations in AEM at /useradmin or via the CRXDE Lite tool at /crx/de/index.jsp. Look for ACEs (Access Control Entries) granting write permissions to anonymous or everyone principal on sensitive paths.Affected if The 'anonymous' user or 'everyone' group has 'jcr:write' permission on /apps, /libs, or system paths outside /content
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Check for unexpected nodes in the repositoryUse CRXDE Lite or the AEM Query Builder to search for recently created nodes in /libs, /apps, or system paths. Run a query like: /jcr:root//element(*, nt:base) order by @jcr:created descending, limiting to recent timestamps.Affected if Unauthorized nodes exist in /libs, /apps, or configuration paths, or nodes appear in locations where unauthenticated users should not be able to write
The environment is affected if AEM version is 6.5.8.0 or below (or Cloud Service) AND anonymous/unauthenticated users have write permissions to paths outside /content and /var directories.
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 · scopedApply Adobe's official security patch for AEM when released; review and enforce proper authorization controls on node creation paths to prevent unauthorized write access.
Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.9.0 or later
- 1. Review the current Adobe Experience Manager deployment and confirm version is 6.5.8.0 or below
- 2. Plan maintenance window for the upgrade process
- 3. Perform a full backup of the AEM instance including repository, configuration, and custom code
- 4. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first
- 5. Upgrade Adobe Experience Manager to version 6.5.9.0 or later
- 6. Verify the installation by accessing the AEM console and confirming all services are running
- 7. Test critical workflows and applications to ensure functionality
- 8. Monitor system logs for any errors post-upgrade
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-28626 — 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-2021-28626 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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