CVE-2021-37736
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 · uneditedA remote authentication bypass vulnerability was discovered in Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager version(s): ClearPass Policy Manager 6.10.x prior to 6.10.2 - - ClearPass Policy Manager 6.9.x prior to 6.9.7-HF1 - - ClearPass Policy Manager 6.8.x prior to 6.8.9-HF1. Aruba has released patches for ClearPass Policy Manager that address this security vulnerability.
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 confidenceA remote authentication bypass vulnerability in Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager allows unauthenticated remote attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms and gain unauthorized access to the policy management system. This critical flaw affects multiple version branches (6.8.x, 6.9.x, 6.10.x) and can be exploited over the network without user interaction.
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>= 6.8.0, < 6.8.9>= 6.9.0, < 6.9.7>= 6.10.0, < 6.10.2CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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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Check ClearPass Policy Manager versionLog into the ClearPass admin UI and navigate to Administration > About, or run 'show version' via CLI to identify the installed software version.Affected if The installed version falls within 6.8.0 to 6.8.8, 6.9.0 to 6.9.6, or 6.10.0 to 6.10.1.
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Determine network exposure of admin interfaceReview firewall rules and network configuration to identify if the ClearPass admin UI (ports 443, 4433) or API endpoints are accessible from untrusted networks or the internet.Affected if The admin interface is reachable from untrusted networks without proper network segmentation or VPN requirements.
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Review authentication and admin access logsExamine ClearPass logs under Administration > Logging > View Logs, focusing on authentication events and admin logins for suspicious or unauthorized activity.Affected if There are unexpected admin logins, failed authentication attempts from unusual sources, or evidence of authentication bypass.
A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable ClearPass version (6.8.x before 6.8.9, 6.9.x before 6.9.7, or 6.10.x before 6.10.2) and has its admin interface exposed to untrusted networks.
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.
dbcve · scoped6.8.96.9.76.10.2
Apply Aruba's published patches by upgrading to version 6.10.2, 6.9.7-HF1, or 6.8.9-HF1 depending on your current branch.
ClearPass Policy Manager 6.8.9-HF1 / 6.9.7-HF1 / 6.10.2 (depending on your branch)
- Identify your current ClearPass Policy Manager version from the Admin UI under Administration > Server Manager > Server Configuration
- For version 6.8.x: Upgrade to ClearPass Policy Manager 6.8.9-HF1 or later
- For version 6.9.x: Upgrade to ClearPass Policy Manager 6.9.7-HF1 or later
- For version 6.10.x: Upgrade to ClearPass Policy Manager 6.10.2 or later
- Download the appropriate upgrade package from the Aruba Customer Portal at https://asp.arubanetworks.com/
- Review the ClearPass upgrade guide for pre-upgrade checklist including backup procedures
- Execute the upgrade during a planned maintenance window following Aruba's documented upgrade procedure
- After upgrade, verify the ClearPass services are running and validate the version number in the Admin UI
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-37736 — 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-2021-37736 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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