CVE-2021-3456
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 · uneditedAn improper authorization handling flaw was found in Foreman. The Salt plugin for the smart-proxy allows foreman clients to execute actions that should be limited to the Foreman Server. This flaw allows an authenticated local attacker to access and delete limited resources and also causes a denial of service on the Foreman server. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to integrity and system availability.
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 confidenceThe Foreman Salt smart-proxy plugin improperly authorizes client requests, allowing authenticated local attackers to execute server-only actions. This authorization bypass enables deletion of limited resources and causes denial of service conditions on the Foreman server.
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<= 2.1.5CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 Salt smart-proxy plugin installationLocate the Salt smart-proxy plugin on your Foreman infrastructure. This is typically found as a separate component within the Foreman smart-proxy setup.Affected if The Salt smart-proxy plugin is installed as part of the Foreman deployment
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Determine installed Salt smart-proxy versionCheck the installed version of the Theforeman Smart Proxy Salt plugin using your package manager or plugin inventory. Compare the version number against the affected range.Affected if The installed version is 2.1.5 or lower
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Verify smart-proxy network exposureInspect the Salt smart-proxy network configuration to determine which IP addresses or networks can submit requests to the smart-proxy endpoint.Affected if The smart-proxy accepts requests from IP addresses other than the authorized Foreman server
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Check authorization configurationReview the Salt smart-proxy configuration files for authorization settings that control which requests are allowed to execute server-only actions like resource deletion.Affected if Authorization validation for sensitive operations is missing or improperly configured, allowing authenticated local users to bypass server-level authorization checks
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Confirm attack surfaceIdentify whether local authenticated users or services have access to communicate with the Salt smart-proxy API endpoint.Affected if Local authenticated attackers can reach the smart-proxy API without proper IP-based restrictions
You are affected if the Salt smart-proxy plugin version is 2.1.5 or lower AND the smart-proxy accepts requests from untrusted sources or lacks proper server-level authorization validation.
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 dataRestrict the Salt smart-proxy plugin to only accept requests from authorized Foreman server IPs/hosts and implement proper server-level authorization validation for all sensitive operations.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-3456 — 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-2021-3456 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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