CVE-2021-33616
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 · uneditedRSA Archer 6.x through 6.9 SP1 P4 (6.9.1.4) allows stored XSS.
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 confidenceRSA Archer 6.x through 6.9 SP1 P4 (6.9.1.4) contains a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability where user-supplied input is stored and rendered without proper sanitization, allowing authenticated attackers to inject malicious JavaScript that executes in the browsers of other users who view the injected content.
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>= 6.1.0.0, <= 6.9.1.4CVSS 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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Determine installed RSA Archer versionLocate the version information in the RSA Archer application (typically found in the About section, Help menu, or system administration area) or check the installation metadataAffected if The installed version is >= 6.1.0.0 and <= 6.9.1.4
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Identify accessible user input areasReview which user roles have access to create or edit content fields in RSA Archer (such as notifications, comments, custom field values, or document metadata)Affected if Authenticated users can submit content that gets stored and displayed to other users
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Inspect stored content for unsanitized inputExamine database records or application content where user-supplied text is stored, looking for script tags, javascript: URIs, or event handler attributes (onclick, onload, etc.) that may have been injectedAffected if Stored content contains HTML or script tags that are rendered without encoding when viewed by other users
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Review web application logs for XSS attemptsSearch HTTP logs and application audit trails for patterns indicating XSS payload injection in input fields (script tags, event handlers, or encoded variations)Affected if Logs show attempts or successful injection of script content into user-modifiable fields
A user is affected if their RSA Archer installation version falls within 6.1.0.0 through 6.9.1.4 AND any user-supplied content can be stored and rendered to other users without output encoding.
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 · scopedUpgrade to a patched version of RSA Archer. Implement input validation and output encoding for all user-supplied content, and apply Content Security Policy headers to mitigate XSS execution.
RSA Archer 6.9 SP1 P5 (6.9.1.5) or later (contact RSA for exact fixed version)
- Contact RSA Security for the latest patch or hotfix for this vulnerability
- Subscribe to RSA Archer security advisories for updates
- Review RSA Archer release notes for security updates addressing CVE-2021-33616
- Apply the appropriate security patch or upgrade to a version beyond 6.9.1.4 as specified by RSA
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-33616 — 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-2021-33616 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