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Equinox P2Application · Eclipse

CVE-2021-41037

HIGH · 8.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-07-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable

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
In Eclipse p2, installable units are able to alter the Eclipse Platform installation and the local machine via touchpoints during installation. Those touchpoints can, for example, alter the command-line used to start the application, injecting things like agent or other settings that usually require particular attention in term of security. Although p2 has built-in strategies to ensure artifacts are signed and then to help establish trust, there is no such strategy for the metadata part that does configure such touchpoints. As a result, it's possible to install a unit that will run malicious code during installation without user receiving any warning about this installation step being risky when coming from untrusted source.

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 confidence

Eclipse p2's touchpoint mechanism allows installable units to modify the Eclipse installation and local machine (e.g., injecting agent settings into command-line arguments). While p2 validates signed artifacts, the metadata configuring these touchpoints lacks any signature verification strategy. This allows malicious metadata to run arbitrary code during installation without user warning when sourced from untrusted repositories.

MitigationOnly install p2 units from trusted, verified repositories; implement repository allowlisting and audit all IUs before installation to ensure touchpoint configurations are legitimate.

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
Equinox P2Application
Affected:>= 1.0.0

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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. Identify Eclipse Equinox P2 installation
    Check for Eclipse installation and look for the org.eclipse.equinox.p2.* bundles in the plugins directory or check via Help > About Eclipse > Installation Details > Plug-ins
    Affected if Eclipse Equinox P2 bundles (org.eclipse.equinox.p2.*) are present at version 1.0.0 or higher
  2. List configured p2 repositories
    Open Eclipse > Preferences > Install/Update > Available Software Sites, or inspect the p2 repositories configured in the artifacts.xml and content.xml files in the p2 profile
    Affected if Any repository is configured that has not been verified as trusted or signed
  3. Review touchpoint configurations in installed units
    Inspect the p2 metadata (content.xml) in the p2 profile directory (typically in <eclipse>/p2/org.eclipse.equinox.p2.engine/profileName/) for <touchpoint> elements, or use p2 director to list IUs with touchpoint instructions
    Affected if Any installed unit contains touchpoint instructions that execute commands or modify system state
  4. Check for unsigned metadata in repositories
    Examine the content.xml and artifacts.xml files in configured p2 repositories for missing or invalid digital signatures on metadata
    Affected if Repository metadata lacks valid XML digital signatures or uses unsigned metadata packages
  5. Audit recent p2 installation operations
    Review the p2 log files (in <workspace>/.metadata/.log or <eclipse>/configuration/<timestamp>.log) for recent installations and check for touchpoint action executions
    Affected if Recent installations show touchpoint actions (like adding VM arguments, modifying config.ini, or executing scripts) from untrusted sources

A user is affected if they have Eclipse Equinox P2 >= 1.0.0 installed and have ever installed software from repositories that are not verified as trusted, as the unsigned touchpoint metadata could have executed arbitrary code during those installations.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Only install p2 units from trusted, verified repositories; implement repository allowlisting and audit all IUs before installation to ensure touchpoint configurations are legitimate.

Fix this in Equinox P2 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
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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-2021-41037 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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