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ConsulApplication · Hashicorp

CVE-2021-41805

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-12-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.8.17 / 1.9.11 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
HashiCorp Consul Enterprise before 1.8.17, 1.9.x before 1.9.11, and 1.10.x before 1.10.4 has Incorrect Access Control. An ACL token (with the default operator:write permissions) in one namespace can be used for unintended privilege escalation in a different namespace.

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

HashiCorp Consul Enterprise has an ACL namespace isolation bypass where an ACL token with default operator:write permissions in one namespace can be used to perform privileged operations in a different namespace, enabling cross-namespace privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade Consul Enterprise to version 1.8.17, 1.9.11, 1.10.4 or later to resolve the ACL namespace isolation bypass.

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
ConsulApplication
Affected:>= 1.7.0, < 1.8.17>= 1.9.0, < 1.9.11>= 1.10.0, < 1.10.4

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check Consul version
    Run `consul version` or inspect the Consul binary to determine the installed version.
    Affected if The installed version is >= 1.7.0 and < 1.8.17, OR >= 1.9.0 and < 1.9.11, OR >= 1.10.0 and < 1.10.4.
  2. Verify ACL system is enabled
    Query the Consul agent API at `/v1/agent/self` or inspect the Consul configuration file for the `acl` block and verify `enabled` is set to true.
    Affected if ACLs are enabled in the Consul configuration.
  3. Confirm multiple namespaces exist
    Query the Consul API endpoint `/v1/namespaces` using a token with operator:read permissions to list all namespaces.
    Affected if More than one namespace is defined in the Consul Enterprise environment.
  4. Inspect ACL policies for cross-namespace access
    List ACL policies using `consul acl policy list` or the `/v1/acl/policies` API endpoint, then review each policy's rules for `operator:write` permissions and namespace specifications.
    Affected if There are ACL policies granting `operator:write` that do not explicitly restrict operations to a single namespace, allowing potential cross-namespace privilege escalation.

A user is affected if they run a vulnerable Consul Enterprise version with ACLs enabled and multiple namespaces, where an ACL token with operator:write permissions could be used to perform privileged operations across namespaces.

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 1.8.17 / 1.9.11 / 1.10.4 or later
Fixed in 1.8.171.9.111.10.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Consul Enterprise to version 1.8.17, 1.9.11, 1.10.4 or later to resolve the ACL namespace isolation bypass.

Recommended fix High confidence

Consul 1.10.4+ (or 1.8.17+ / 1.9.11+ depending on your current version branch)

  1. Identify your current Consul version using `consul --version`
  2. Determine which version branch you are on (1.7.x, 1.9.x, or 1.10.x)
  3. For version 1.7.x: Upgrade to Consul 1.8.17 or later
  4. For version 1.9.x: Upgrade to Consul 1.9.11 or later
  5. For version 1.10.x: Upgrade to Consul 1.10.4 or later
  6. Download the appropriate Enterprise or open-source binary from hashicorp.com or your usual distribution channel
  7. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment before deploying to production
  8. Apply the upgrade following standard Consul upgrade procedures
Caveat Review HashiCorp Consul 1.10.4, 1.9.11, and 1.8.17 release notes for any breaking changes specific to your deployment

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

Fix this in Consul Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

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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-2021-41805 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