CVE-2021-37551
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 · uneditedIn JetBrains YouTrack before 2021.2.16363, system user passwords were hashed with SHA-256.
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 confidenceIn JetBrains YouTrack versions prior to 2021.2.16363, system user passwords were stored using SHA-256 hashing. SHA-256 is unsuitable for password storage because it's computationally fast (enabling rapid brute-force attacks) and lacks the salting and iteration mechanisms that modern password hashing functions provide, potentially allowing attackers to recover plaintext passwords from stolen password hashes.
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< 2021.2.16363CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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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Check YouTrack version in admin interfaceLog in as an administrator, navigate to Administration > System > Overview, and locate the YouTrack version number displayed thereAffected if The displayed version is less than 2021.2.16363 (e.g., 2021.2, 2021.1, 2020.x, etc.)
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Check version via YouTrack URLFor YouTrack InCloud instances, the version may be visible in the footer of any YouTrack page or by accessing the /api/serverInfo endpointAffected if The version shown is prior to 2021.2.16363
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Check version in installation directoryFor YouTrack InHouse (on-premise), check the {installation}/application/bin/ version.txt or look at the startup logs which typically display the version on service startAffected if The version in version.txt or logs is older than 2021.2.16363
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Check via command lineFor YouTrack InHouse, run the version command from the YouTrack installation: ./youtrack.sh version or check the product-info.json file in the installation directoryAffected if The reported version number is below 2021.2.16363
A YouTrack installation is affected if it runs any version prior to 2021.2.16363, regardless of configuration, as the weak SHA-256 password hashing applies to all system users in those versions.
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 data2021.2.16363
Upgrade YouTrack to version 2021.2.16363 or later, which implements proper password hashing. After upgrading, consider rotating system user passwords as a precautionary measure.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,416.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-37551 — 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-2021-37551 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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