CVE-2021-35497
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 · uneditedThe FTL Server (tibftlserver) and Docker images containing tibftlserver components of TIBCO Software Inc.'s TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Community Edition, TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Developer Edition, TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Enterprise Edition, TIBCO FTL - Community Edition, TIBCO FTL - Developer Edition, TIBCO FTL - Enterprise Edition, TIBCO eFTL - Community Edition, TIBCO eFTL - Developer Edition, and TIBCO eFTL - Enterprise Edition contain a vulnerability that theoretically allows a non-administrative, authenticated FTL user to trick the affected components into creating illegitimate certificates. These maliciously generated certificates can be used to enable man-in-the-middle attacks or to escalate privileges so that the malicious user has administrative privileges. Affected releases are TIBCO Software Inc.'s TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Community Edition: versions 4.3.0, 4.4.0, 4.5.0, 4.6.0, 4.6.1, and 4.6.2, TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Developer Edition: versions 4.3.0, 4.4.0, 4.5.0, 4.6.0, 4.6.1, and 4.6.2, TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Enterprise Edition: versions 4.3.0, 4.4.0, 4.5.0, 4.6.0, 4.6.1, and 4.6.2, TIBCO FTL - Community Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0, TIBCO FTL - Developer Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0, TIBCO FTL - Enterprise Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0, TIBCO eFTL - Community Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0, TIBCO eFTL - Developer Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0, and TIBCO eFTL - Enterprise Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0.
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 vulnerability allows a non-administrative but authenticated FTL user to manipulate the tibftlserver component into generating illegitimate certificates. This represents an authorization bypass in the certificate generation functionality, enabling the attacker to create certificates they should not have permissions to generate, which can then be used for man-in-the-middle attacks or to escalate privileges to administrative level.
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= 4.3.0= 4.4.0= 4.5.0= 4.6.0= 4.6.1= 4.6.2= 6.2.0= 6.3.0= 6.3.1= 6.4.0= 6.5.0= 6.6.0= 6.6.1= 6.7.0= 6.2.0= 6.3.0= 6.3.1= 6.4.0= 6.5.0= 6.6.0= 6.6.1= 6.7.0CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/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 installed TIBCO FTL, eFTL, or ActiveSpaces versionCheck the installation directory or use product-specific version command (e.g., tibftlserver -v or check product documentation). Compare the installed version against the affected ranges: ActiveSpaces 4.3.0-4.6.2, eFTL 6.2.0-6.7.0, FTL 6.2.0-6.7.0Affected if The installed version matches one of the listed affected versions exactly (note: these are exact version matches, not ranges)
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Confirm tibftlserver component is in useIdentify if the tibftlserver process is running on the system or configured in the deployment. This is the component where the authorization bypass occursAffected if The tibftlserver component is actively running or configured in the environment
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Check for non-administrative authenticated usersReview user accounts configured in the FTL system. Identify if there are any non-administrative users with authentication credentials but without full administrative privilegesAffected if There are non-administrative but authenticated users defined in the FTL system who should have limited certificate generation permissions
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Audit certificate generation logsExamine FTL server logs, system audit logs, or certificate authority logs for certificate generation requests. Look for certificates generated by non-administrative users that may indicate exploitationAffected if Certificates were generated by users who should not have permissions to create them, or unexpected certificate generation activity is present
You are affected if you are running any of the exact versions listed (ActiveSpaces 4.3.0-4.6.2, eFTL 6.2.0-6.7.0, FTL 6.2.0-6.7.0) with the tibftlserver component and have non-administrative authenticated users who could exploit the certificate generation authorization bypass.
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 dataUpgrade to patched versions of TIBCO ActiveSpaces and FTL/eFTL as specified in TIBCO's security advisory. Until patched, monitor for unauthorized certificate generation activity and restrict network access to FTL server components.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-35497 — 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-2021-35497 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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