NexposeApplication · Rapid7

CVE-2021-3535

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.81 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
Rapid7 Nexpose is vulnerable to a non-persistent cross-site scripting vulnerability affecting the Security Console's Filtered Asset Search feature. A specific search criterion and operator combination in Filtered Asset Search could have allowed a user to pass code through the provided search field. This issue affects version 6.6.80 and prior, and is fixed in 6.6.81. If your Security Console currently falls on or within this affected version range, ensure that you update your Security Console to the latest version.

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

Rapid7 Nexpose Security Console contains a reflected (non-persistent) cross-site scripting vulnerability in the Filtered Asset Search feature. By crafting a specific search criterion and operator combination, an attacker could inject malicious JavaScript code that executes in the context of the victim's browser session.

MitigationUpdate the Rapid7 Nexpose Security Console from version 6.6.80 or prior to version 6.6.81 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

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
NexposeApplication
Affected:< 6.6.81

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checks

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

  1. Identify Nexpose installation version
    Access the Nexpose Security Console web interface and check the product version typically displayed in the About section or footer of the console, or check via command line if available (such as 'nexpose-cli --version' or checking installation logs)
    Affected if The installed version is 6.6.80 or prior (versions below 6.6.81)
  2. Confirm console is accessible
    Navigate to the Assets or Asset Search section within the Nexpose console and locate the Filtered Asset Search functionality (typically found under Assets > Filtered Asset Search or similar path)
    Affected if The Filtered Asset Search feature is present and accessible in the console interface

If the Nexpose Security Console version is 6.6.80 or prior and the Filtered Asset Search feature is accessible, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2021-3535.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.6.81 or later
Fixed in 6.6.81
Interim mitigation

Update the Rapid7 Nexpose Security Console from version 6.6.80 or prior to version 6.6.81 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Fix this in Nexpose Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-3535 — 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-2021-3535 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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