Orion Job SchedulerApplication · Solarwinds

CVE-2021-31475

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-05-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of SolarWinds Orion Job Scheduler 2020.2.1 HF 2. Authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the JobRouterService WCF service. The issue is due to the WCF service configuration, which allows a critical resource to be accessed by unprivileged users. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of an administrator. Was ZDI-CAN-12007.

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

This is a WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) service misconfiguration in SolarWinds Orion Job Scheduler that allows authenticated but unprivileged users to access critical administrative resources through the JobRouterService. The vulnerability stems from insufficient authorization enforcement in the WCF service configuration, enabling remote attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of an administrator after authentication.

MitigationConfigure proper role-based and claim-based authorization in the WCF service configuration (web.config or app.config) to enforce least-privilege access controls, ensuring unprivileged users cannot access critical administrative resources or execute privileged operations.

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
Orion Job SchedulerApplication
Affected:= 2020.2.1

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Confirm SolarWinds Orion Job Scheduler version
    Check the installed version of SolarWinds Orion Job Scheduler. This may be found in the program's About page, registry, or the installation directory. Compare against version 2020.2.1.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 2020.2.1.
  2. Locate the WCF service configuration files
    Find the web.config or app.config file for the SolarWinds Orion Job Scheduler installation. These are typically located in the installation directory or the web application's root directory.
    Affected if The configuration file exists and contains WCF service configuration for JobRouterService.
  3. Inspect JobRouterService authorization settings
    In the configuration file, locate the <system.serviceModel> section and examine the <authorization> or <serviceAuthorization> elements for the JobRouterService endpoint. Check whether role-based or claim-based authorization is explicitly configured.
    Affected if No explicit role-based or claim-based authorization rules are defined for the JobRouterService, or the authorization is set to allow authenticated users without privilege restrictions.
  4. Verify endpoint binding and security settings
    Examine the <bindings> and <security> configuration for the JobRouterService endpoint. Determine if authentication is required and what authentication mode is in use (e.g., Windows, Certificate, or None).
    Affected if The endpoint permits authenticated but unprivileged users to access the service without additional privilege checks.

A user is affected if they have SolarWinds Orion Job Scheduler version 2020.2.1 running with the JobRouterService exposed and the WCF authorization configured to allow authenticated but unprivileged users access to administrative resources.

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

Configure proper role-based and claim-based authorization in the WCF service configuration (web.config or app.config) to enforce least-privilege access controls, ensuring unprivileged users cannot access critical administrative resources or execute privileged operations.

Fix this in Orion Job Scheduler Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-31475 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-31475 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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