CVE-2021-33583
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 · uneditedREINER timeCard 6.05.07 installs a Microsoft SQL Server with an sa password that is hardcoded in the TCServer.jar file.
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 confidenceREINER timeCard 6.05.07 ships with a Microsoft SQL Server instance that uses a hardcoded sa password embedded in plaintext within the TCServer.jar file. An attacker who obtains the JAR file can extract these credentials and gain full administrative access to the database, potentially exposing sensitive employee time-tracking data and compromising the entire application.
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= 6.05.07CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed Reiner timeCard versionCheck the application version displayed in the timeCard software interface or look for version information in the installation directory. Typical locations include the TCServer directory or the application's about screen.Affected if The installed version is exactly 6.05.07, which ships with the hardcoded credentials.
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Locate the TCServer.jar fileSearch the Reiner timeCard installation directory for the file named TCServer.jar. Common paths include C:\Program Files\Reiner timeCard\ or /opt/reiner/timecard/ on Linux systems.Affected if The TCServer.jar file exists in the installation directory.
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Inspect TCServer.jar for hardcoded credentialsOpen the TCServer.jar file (which is a ZIP archive) and examine the contents for plaintext strings containing 'sa' or SQL Server connection parameters. Use a tool like 'strings' on Linux or open the JAR with 7-Zip on Windows to view embedded plaintext.Affected if The JAR file contains a hardcoded sa username and password in plaintext form.
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Check SQL Server authentication methodConnect to the SQL Server instance used by timeCard and query authentication settings. Run 'SELECT name, authentication_type_desc FROM sys.server_principals WHERE name = 'sa'' to verify if the sa account is enabled and what authentication mode is in use.Affected if The sa account is enabled and uses the default password that was found in the JAR file.
You are affected if running Reiner timeCard version 6.05.07 with the TCServer.jar file containing hardcoded SQL Server sa credentials that are still in active use.
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 dataChange the default sa password to a strong, unique value in SQL Server, update the application configuration accordingly, restrict access to the JAR file to prevent credential extraction, and conduct a broader review for additional hardcoded secrets.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-33583 — 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-2021-33583 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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