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QuantastorApplication · Osnexus

CVE-2021-42081

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.0.0.355 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An authenticated administrator is allowed to remotely execute arbitrary shell commands via the API. POC http://<IP_ADDRESS>/qstorapi/storageSystemModify?storageSystem=&newName=quantastor&newDescription=;ls${IFS}-al&newLocation=4&newEnclosureLayoutId=5&newDnsServerList=;ls${IFS}-al&externalHostName=&newNTPServerList=;ls${IFS}-al

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

This is a command injection vulnerability in the quantastor storage API. The storageSystemModify endpoint accepts user-supplied parameters (newName, newDescription, newDnsServerList, newNTPServerList) that are directly concatenated into a shell command without sanitization. An authenticated administrator can terminate the intended command with a semicolon and inject arbitrary commands using shell metacharacters like ${IFS} for whitespace bypass.

MitigationImplement strict input validation using allowlists, avoid shell command execution where possible, or use parameterized/safe APIs that do not invoke shell interpreters. If shell execution is unavoidable, sanitize all user input to remove or reject shell metacharacters.

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
QuantastorApplication
Affected:< 6.0.0.355

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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. Identify the installed Quantastor version
    Access the Quantastor web UI and navigate to System > About, or use the CLI: 'quhw --version' or check the /opt/quantastor/etc/quantastor.ini version file
    Affected if The installed version is below 6.0.0.355
  2. Confirm the storageSystemModify API endpoint exists
    Check API documentation or enumerate the REST API endpoints at /api/storageSystemModify or through the Quantastor management interface
    Affected if The storageSystemModify endpoint is present and accessible
  3. Verify administrator authentication is required
    Attempt to access the Quantastor API without credentials and confirm authentication is enforced. Check if the storageSystemModify endpoint rejects unauthenticated requests
    Affected if The endpoint accepts requests without requiring valid administrator authentication (misconfiguration)
  4. Inspect API logs for suspicious input patterns
    Review Quantastor API logs in /var/log/quantastor/ or the web UI logs for entries containing shell metacharacters (semicolons, $, |, &&) in newName, newDescription, newDnsServerList, or newNTPServerList parameters
    Affected if Log entries show injection attempts with shell metacharacters in the vulnerable parameters

You are affected if Quantastor is installed with a version below 6.0.0.355 and the storageSystemModify API endpoint is accessible to authenticated administrators.

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 6.0.0.355 or later
Fixed in 6.0.0.355
Interim mitigation

Implement strict input validation using allowlists, avoid shell command execution where possible, or use parameterized/safe APIs that do not invoke shell interpreters. If shell execution is unavoidable, sanitize all user input to remove or reject shell metacharacters.

Recommended fix High confidence

Quantastor 6.0.0.355 or later

  1. 1. Create a complete backup of the Quantastor configuration and verify all critical data is backed up.
  2. 2. Download the Quantastor 6.0.0.355 or later version from the official OSNexus website (www.osnexus.com).
  3. 3. Review the official upgrade documentation for Quantastor 6.0.0.355.
  4. 4. Schedule a maintenance window as the upgrade may require system downtime.
  5. 5. Apply the upgrade following the vendor's documented upgrade procedure.
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the system is operational and the API no longer accepts command injection in the storageSystemModify parameters.
Caveat Unknown from provided material; consult OSNexus release notes for upgrade risks

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

Fix this in Quantastor Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2021-42081 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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