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EnterpriseApplication · Gradle

CVE-2021-41590

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-10-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2021.3 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 Gradle Enterprise through 2021.3, probing of the server-side network environment can occur via an SMTP configuration test. The installation configuration user interface available to administrators allows testing the configured SMTP server settings. This test function can be used to identify the listening TCP ports available to the server, revealing information about the internal network environment.

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 confidence

Gradle Enterprise versions through 2021.3 contain an information disclosure vulnerability in the SMTP configuration test feature accessible via the admin UI. The test function, intended to validate SMTP server settings, can be abused to probe arbitrary TCP ports on the server or internal network by specifying different hosts and ports, enabling reconnaissance of the internal network environment.

MitigationRestrict the SMTP test functionality to only connect to the explicitly configured SMTP server hostname and port, removing the ability to probe arbitrary network endpoints. Consider implementing rate limiting and access logging for administrative functions.

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
EnterpriseApplication
Affected:>= 2020.4, < 2021.3

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Gradle Enterprise version
    Check the version by accessing the admin UI footer, or inspect version files in the installation directory such as version.txt or build-info.json typically found in the installation root or conf directory
    Affected if The version is 2020.4 or higher but lower than 2021.3
  2. Confirm admin UI is accessible
    Attempt to access the Gradle Enterprise admin interface at the standard /admin endpoint or the configured admin URL path
    Affected if The admin UI is reachable and authentication is available (the vulnerable SMTP test feature resides here)
  3. Locate SMTP configuration settings
    Navigate to the admin UI and locate the SMTP or email server configuration section, typically found under Settings or Infrastructure configuration areas
    Affected if SMTP configuration test functionality is present and allows user-supplied host and port input

The environment is affected if Gradle Enterprise version is 2020.4 or higher but lower than 2021.3, the admin UI is accessible, and the SMTP configuration test feature with arbitrary host/port input capability is present.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2021.3 or later
Fixed in 2021.3
Interim mitigation

Restrict the SMTP test functionality to only connect to the explicitly configured SMTP server hostname and port, removing the ability to probe arbitrary network endpoints. Consider implementing rate limiting and access logging for administrative functions.

Recommended fix High confidence

Gradle Enterprise 2021.3 or later

  1. Backup your current Gradle Enterprise configuration and data
  2. Download Gradle Enterprise version 2021.3 or later from the official distribution
  3. Follow the standard Gradle Enterprise upgrade procedure for your deployment method (tarball, Docker, Kubernetes, etc.)
  4. After upgrade, verify the SMTP configuration test functionality no longer allows arbitrary port probing
  5. Confirm the Gradle Enterprise web interface is accessible and functioning normally
Caveat Review the Gradle Enterprise 2021.3 release notes for any changes to functionality or deprecated features before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Enterprise Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2021-41590 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data