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Interoperability Solution XdsApplication · Philips

CVE-2021-32966

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-05-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2021-1 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Philips Interoperability Solution XDS versions 2.5 through 3.11 and 2018-1 through 2021-1 are vulnerable to clear text transmission of sensitive information when configured to use LDAP via TLS and where the domain controller returns LDAP referrals, which may allow an attacker to remotely read LDAP system credentials.

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

Philips XDS fails to maintain TLS encryption when handling LDAP referrals from domain controllers. When configured to use LDAP via TLS and the domain controller returns referrals to other LDAP servers, credentials are transmitted in clear text to the referred servers instead of being encrypted, allowing remote credential theft.

MitigationDisable LDAP referrals in the XDS configuration or ensure all referred LDAP servers are accessed via LDAPS with proper certificate validation. Alternatively, implement network-level controls to prevent credential exposure from referral responses.

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
Interoperability Solution XdsApplication
Affected:>= 2.5, <= 3.11>= 2018-1, <= 2021-1

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Philips XDS installation and version
    Locate the Philips Interoperability Solution XDS installation directory and check the version information file, typically found in the product's main directory or via the product's About/Version panel in the administrative interface.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 2.5 to 3.11 inclusive, or between 2018-1 and 2021-1 inclusive.
  2. Confirm LDAP over TLS is configured
    Review the XDS configuration files or administrative settings to verify whether the system is configured to use LDAP with TLS encryption (LDAPS). Look for LDAP connection settings that specify port 636 or enable TLS/SSL.
    Affected if LDAPS (LDAP over TLS) is enabled and in use for authentication.
  3. Check if LDAP referrals are enabled
    Examine the XDS LDAP client configuration for referral handling settings. This is typically found in the LDAP configuration section where referral policy is defined (commonly set to 'follow' or similar).
    Affected if LDAP referrals are configured to 'follow' or automatically redirect to other servers, causing credentials to be re-sent to referred locations.
  4. Identify referral destination servers
    Review domain controller responses and XDS logs to determine which LDAP servers receive referrals when authentication occurs. Check the referral chain to see if subsequent servers are accessed without TLS.
    Affected if Referrals point to LDAP servers that receive connections without TLS encryption, resulting in cleartext credential transmission.

You are affected if your XDS version is within 2.5-3.11 or 2018-1-2021-1, LDAP over TLS is configured, and LDAP referrals are enabled to follow to other servers, causing credentials to be sent in cleartext to referred LDAP servers.

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 2021-1
Interim mitigation

Disable LDAP referrals in the XDS configuration or ensure all referred LDAP servers are accessed via LDAPS with proper certificate validation. Alternatively, implement network-level controls to prevent credential exposure from referral responses.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. Ensure LDAP channel binding is enabled on all domain controllers to prevent credential exposure through LDAP referrals
  2. Configure the XDS system to enforce TLS for all LDAP communications, including referral responses
  3. Implement LDAP signing to ensure all LDAP traffic, including referrals, is cryptographically protected
  4. Verify that domain controllers are configured to use LDAPS (LDAP over SSL/TLS) for all operations
  5. Consider network segmentation to isolate LDAP communications from untrusted networks
  6. Audit LDAP referral configurations to ensure no cleartext credential transmission occurs

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

Fix this in Interoperability Solution Xds Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,730
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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-2021-32966 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