CVE-2021-29790
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 · uneditedIBM Engineering Requirements Quality Assistant On-Premises (All versions) is vulnerable to cross-site scripting. This vulnerability allows users to embed arbitrary JavaScript code in the Web UI thus altering the intended functionality potentially leading to credentials disclosure within a trusted session. IBM X-Force ID: 203440.
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 confidenceIBM Engineering Requirements Quality Assistant On-Premises contains a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in its web UI. Attackers can embed malicious JavaScript code into the application interface, which executes in the browsers of other users viewing the compromised content. This can lead to session hijacking and credentials disclosure within trusted sessions.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
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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Confirm IBM Engineering Requirements Quality Assistant is installedCheck for the application in your system inventory or running services. Look for processes or services associated with IBM Engineering Requirements Quality Assistant.Affected if The product is installed and running in your environment.
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Verify web UI accessibilityAccess the application's web interface through a browser. Note the URL and port used for the application.Affected if The web UI is accessible over the network.
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Identify user input points in the web interfaceNavigate through the application and locate fields that accept user-supplied data such as requirements entries, comments, descriptions, or search fields.Affected if The application contains user input fields where data is stored and displayed back to users.
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Inspect for absence of output encodingEnter a basic HTML or script tag such as <script>alert(1)</script> into an input field and save. Then view the saved content to see if the tag renders as plain text or executes.Affected if The entered script tags render as actual HTML or execute as JavaScript instead of being escaped.
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Check for Content Security Policy headersUse browser developer tools or a command-line tool like curl to inspect the HTTP response headers from the application for the presence of Content-Security-Policy header.Affected if No Content-Security-Policy header is present, or it allows inline scripts.
You are affected if IBM Engineering Requirements Quality Assistant On-Premises is installed and its web interface accepts user input that is not properly sanitized before being displayed to other users.
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 dataApply vendor-provided patches for this vulnerability. Implement output encoding and input validation on all user-supplied data in the web interface. Consider deploying Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to reduce XSS impact.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,040.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-29790 — 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-2021-29790 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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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.
- 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