CVE-2021-35528
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 · uneditedImproper Access Control vulnerability in the application authentication and authorization of Hitachi Energy Retail Operations, Counterparty Settlement and Billing (CSB) allows an attacker to execute a modified signed Java Applet JAR file. A successful exploitation may lead to data extraction or modification of data inside the application. This issue affects: Hitachi Energy Retail Operations 5.7.3 and prior versions. Hitachi Energy Counterparty Settlement and Billing (CSB) 5.7.3 prior versions.
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 confidenceImproper Access Control vulnerability in Hitachi Energy Retail Operations and Counterparty Settlement and Billing (CSB) allows attackers to execute modified signed Java Applet JAR files by bypassing authentication and authorization checks. The vulnerability enables unauthorized data extraction or modification within the 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<= 5.7.3<= 5.7.3CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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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Identify if Hitachi Energy CSB or Retail Operations is installedSearch for the application in your system or check program directories for 'Counterparty Settlements And Billing' or 'Retail Operations' folders, or look for installed software named 'Hitachi Energy' with these product namesAffected if The application is installed on the system
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Determine the installed product versionCheck the application version through its main UI (typically found in Help > About or in the installation directory version file), or look for a version.txt or version.info file in the installation folderAffected if The version is 5.7.3 or lower for either Counterparty Settlements And Billing or Retail Operations
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Check if Java Applet functionality is enabledLook for applet configuration files in the application directory (typically .xml or .html files referencing '<applet>' tags or Java Web Start configurations), or check the application configuration settings for applet execution permissionsAffected if Java Applet support is enabled and the application uses JAR files for client-side execution
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Inspect JAR file execution configurationReview configuration files that specify which JAR files the applet loads, typically found in the web or config subdirectory of the installation, looking for references to signed JAR files and their validation settingsAffected if The application is configured to load and execute signed JAR applets without additional server-side signature validation
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Verify authentication configuration for applet executionExamine the application's authentication and authorization configuration files (often in a config or security subdirectory) to determine if JAR file execution occurs before or after authentication checksAffected if JAR applet execution can be triggered without proper authentication or the authentication check is bypassed for signed JAR files
You are affected if Hitachi Energy Counterparty Settlements And Billing or Retail Operations version 5.7.3 or lower is installed and Java Applet functionality is enabled, allowing unsigned or modified JAR files to execute.
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 dataImplement robust server-side validation of JAR file integrity and digital signatures, enforce proper authentication checks before JAR execution, and upgrade to patched versions of the software. Consider migrating away from Java Applet technology if possible.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-35528 — 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-2021-35528 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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