CVE-2021-40722
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 · uneditedAEM Forms Cloud Service offering, as well as version 6.5.10.0 (and below) are affected by an XML External Entity (XXE) injection vulnerability that could be abused by an attacker to achieve RCE.
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 confidenceAEM Forms (both Cloud Service and version 6.5.10.0 and below) contains an XML External Entity (XXE) injection vulnerability in its XML processing functionality. Attackers can inject malicious XML with external entity references that, when parsed by the vulnerable XML processor, allow reading internal files, performing SSRF, or achieving remote code execution.
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<= 6.5.10.0all versionsCVSS 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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Identify AEM deployment typeDetermine whether your AEM installation is on-premise (Adobe Experience Manager) or cloud-based (AEM Cloud Service). Check your deployment documentation or contact your AEM administrator.Affected if If running AEM Cloud Service (all versions are affected); or if running on-premise AEM version 6.5.10.0 or below.
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Check AEM on-premise versionAccess the AEM Web Console (typically at /system/console/systeminfo) or use the CRXDE Lite interface to view the product version. Navigate to the Version Info page or check the com.adobe.granite.package implbundle manifest.Affected if If the installed AEM version is 6.5.10.0 or any version below 6.5.10.0.
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Verify AEM Forms module is installedCheck for the presence of AEM Forms packages in the system. Access the AEM Package Manager (/crx/packmgr) and look for forms-related packages such as 'aem-forms' or 'forms-fragments', or check the AEM System Console for Forms-related bundles.Affected if If AEM Forms modules are installed and the XML processing functionality is enabled.
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Identify XML-handling endpoints in AEM FormsReview AEM Forms endpoints and services that process XML input. Check the Forms configuration at /libs/fd/fp/extensions or examine the AEM Forms Workflow console for XML data intake processes.Affected if If XML-processing endpoints exist in AEM Forms that accept external or unvalidated XML input.
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Confirm XML parser configurationInspect the XML parser settings used by AEM Forms services. Check the OSGi configuration for XML-related services in the AEM System Console (configMgr) and verify whether external entity processing is explicitly disabled.Affected if If the XML parser configuration allows external entity resolution (DTD processing enabled) or has no explicit XXE protection configured.
You are affected if you run AEM Cloud Service (any version) or AEM on-premise version 6.5.10.0 or below, AND you have AEM Forms with XML processing capabilities enabled and no explicit XXE protection configured in your XML parsers.
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 dataApply the vendor patch for CVE-2021-40722 (refer to Adobe security bulletin APSB21-104). Additionally, disable external entity processing in XML parsers and implement input validation on all XML-handling endpoints in AEM Forms.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-40722 — 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-2021-40722 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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