CVE-2021-41770
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 · uneditedPing Identity PingFederate before 10.3.1 mishandles pre-parsing validation, leading to an XXE attack that can achieve XML file disclosure.
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 confidencePingFederate before 10.3.1 contains an XXE (XML External Entity) vulnerability in its XML pre-parsing validation logic. Attackers can inject malicious XML payloads containing external entity references to read arbitrary files from the server's filesystem.
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< 10.3.1CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine PingFederate installed versionAccess the PingFederate admin console and navigate to System > Server > Protocol Settings, or run '<pf_install>/bin/pfctl -v' from the command line to retrieve the exact version numberAffected if The installed version is earlier than 10.3.1 (e.g., 10.3.0, 10.2.x, 10.1.x, etc.)
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Check for XML-based federation connectionsReview active connections in the PingFederate admin console under Applications > Federation. Look for SAML IdP or SP connections, WS-Federation partners, or any OAuth/OpenID Connect configurations that involve XML metadata exchangeAffected if The server handles SAML assertions, XML metadata, or other XML-based federation protocols, as these utilize the vulnerable XML parsing component
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Identify XML import functionalityCheck if XML metadata imports are performed. In the admin console, look for Metadata imports under Configuration > System > Metadata, or review any scheduled tasks that fetch or parse remote XML metadataAffected if The server performs XML metadata imports from external sources, as malicious payloads could be injected through these import processes
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Review XML processor configurationExamine the <pf_install>/pingfederate/etc directory for XML processor configuration files, or check the admin console under Security > XML Processing to see if custom XML parser settings are definedAffected if Custom XML parser configurations exist that may control the pre-parsing validation logic mentioned in the CVE
The environment is affected if PingFederate version is below 10.3.1 AND the server processes XML-based federation protocols or accepts XML metadata imports.
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 · scoped10.3.1
Upgrade PingFederate to version 10.3.1 or later to remediate the XXE vulnerability in the XML parsing component.
10.3.1
- Download PingFederate version 10.3.1 or later from the Ping Identity download portal
- Review the PingFederate upgrade guide for your current version
- Backup your current PingFederate installation, configuration, and any custom plugins
- Stop the PingFederate service before upgrading
- Install PingFederate 10.3.1 or later
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version in the admin console or via command line
- Start the PingFederate service
- Validate that all expected functionality is working correctly
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-41770 — 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-2021-41770 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data