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Jboss Enterprise Application PlatformApplication · Redhat

CVE-2021-3717

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-05-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 17.0 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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
A flaw was found in Wildfly. An incorrect JBOSS_LOCAL_USER challenge location when using the elytron configuration may lead to JBOSS_LOCAL_USER access to all users on the machine. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality, integrity, and availability. This flaw affects wildfly-core versions prior to 17.0.

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 · moderate confidence

A flaw in Wildfly's elytron security configuration causes incorrect JBOSS_LOCAL_USER challenge handling, potentially allowing any local system user to authenticate to the application server without proper credentials. This is an authentication bypass via misconfigured local user verification.

MitigationUpgrade wildfly-core to version 17.0 or later to patch the elytron JBOSS_LOCAL_USER authentication flaw. If upgrade is not immediately feasible, review and restrict local user access or disable JBOSS_LOCAL_USER authentication if not required.

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
Jboss Enterprise Application PlatformApplication
Affected:all versions= 7.4= 7.3
Single Sign OnApplication
Affected:all versions
Wildfly CoreApplication
Affected:< 17.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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

  1. Check Wildfly Core version
    Locate the wildfly-core JAR or check the version string in the installation (typically in $JBOSS_HOME/modules/org/wildfly/core/main/ or via the --version flag if CLI is available)
    Affected if The version is Wildfly Core < 17.0, or the product is Red Hat JBoss EAP 7.3 or 7.4 (any version), or Red Hat Single Sign-On (any version)
  2. Identify elytron security configuration file
    Locate the Elytron configuration in the server configuration file (standalone.xml, standalone-elytron.xml, or domain.xml in $JBOSS_HOME/standalone/configuration/ or $JBOSS_HOME/domain/configuration/)
    Affected if The file contains an <elytron> subsystem configuration
  3. Verify JBOSS_LOCAL_USER authentication is configured
    Search the elytron configuration for the <authentication-configuration> or <security-domain> elements, specifically looking for 'JBOSS_LOCAL_USER' or 'local' authentication mechanism definitions
    Affected if JBOSS_LOCAL_USER authentication is explicitly configured or referenced in the elytron security domain
  4. Confirm local-user authentication is enabled
    Review the <authentication> or <sasl> configuration within the elytron subsystem for local-user challenge handling settings
    Affected if Local user authentication (JBOSS_LOCAL_USER) is enabled and no explicit restriction on local users is configured

You are affected if your Wildfly Core version is below 17.0 (or you use JBoss EAP 7.3/7.4 or Red Hat SSO of any version) AND elytron is configured with JBOSS_LOCAL_USER authentication enabled in your security configuration.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 17.0 or later
Fixed in 17.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade wildfly-core to version 17.0 or later to patch the elytron JBOSS_LOCAL_USER authentication flaw. If upgrade is not immediately feasible, review and restrict local user access or disable JBOSS_LOCAL_USER authentication if not required.

Recommended fix High confidence

Wildfly Core 17.0 or later; JBoss EAP 7.3.x/7.4.x with security update containing Wildfly Core 17.0

  1. 1. Identify the current Wildfly Core or JBoss EAP version in use
  2. 2. For Wildfly Core: Upgrade to Wildfly Core 17.0 or later to address the JBOSS_LOCAL_USER challenge location flaw
  3. 3. For JBoss EAP: Apply the relevant security update for versions 7.3 or 7.4 that incorporates the Wildfly Core 17.0 fix
  4. 4. After upgrade, verify the elytron configuration is properly configured for local authentication
  5. 5. Test that JBOSS_LOCAL_USER authentication works only for the intended local user and not all system users
  6. 6. Review Wildfly Core 17.0 release notes for any configuration or behavioral changes that may affect your deployment
Caveat Review Wildfly Core 17.0 release notes for elytron configuration changes and any backward compatibility considerations

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Jboss Enterprise Application Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2021-3717 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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