CVE-2021-38182
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 · uneditedDue to insufficient input validation of Kyma, authenticated users can pass a Header of their choice and escalate privileges which can completely compromise the cluster.
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 confidenceKyma has insufficient input validation that allows authenticated users to supply arbitrary HTTP headers, leading to privilege escalation. This enables a malicious authenticated user to manipulate header values to elevate their permissions beyond what they should have, potentially achieving cluster-level administrative access.
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< 1.24.7CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Kyma versionRun 'kubectl get deployment -n kyma-system -o jsonpath="{.items[*].spec.template.spec.containers[*].image}"' or check your Kyma installation manifest to locate the Kyma version tagAffected if The installed version is below 1.24.7
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Verify API server accessibilityCheck if the Kyma API server or any HTTP-exposed component is accessible from user networks by reviewing service definitions in 'kubectl get svc -A' and ingress configurationsAffected if HTTP endpoints are exposed and reachable by authenticated users
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Confirm authentication is activeReview the authentication configuration to verify that user authentication is enabled for the exposed API, typically found in the API Gateway or Dex configurationAffected if Authentication is enabled and allows user access to the vulnerable endpoint
A user is affected if they run any Kyma version below 1.24.7 with accessible HTTP endpoints that accept user-supplied headers.
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 · scoped1.24.7
Implement strict input validation on all incoming HTTP headers and enforce proper authorization checks that validate user permissions against requested header values before processing.
Kyma version 1.24.7 or later
- 1. Review current Kyma version by running: kubectl get pods -n kyma-system or checking the Kyma dashboard
- 2. Schedule a maintenance window for the cluster upgrade
- 3. Create a complete backup of the Kyma cluster state including all CustomResources
- 4. For Kyma provisioned with k3d/k3s: backup the k3s state directory
- 5. Upgrade Kyma to version 1.24.7 or later using the Kyma CLI: kyma upgrade -v 1.24.7
- 6. For managed Kyma: contact the cloud provider to apply the patched version
- 7. Verify the upgrade completed successfully: kubectl get pods -n kyma-system
- 8. Test that the privilege escalation vulnerability is remediated by attempting the documented attack vector with a non-admin account
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation12.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $16,896.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-38182 — 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-2021-38182 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
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