CVE-2021-42115
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 · uneditedMissing HTTPOnly flag in Web Applications operating on Business-DNA Solutions GmbH’s TopEase® Platform Version <= 7.1.27 allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to escalate privileges from unauthenticated to authenticated user via stealing and injecting the session- independent and static cookie UID.
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 confidenceThe TopEase platform <= 7.1.27 fails to set the HTTPOnly flag on the UID cookie, allowing JavaScript access via XSS to steal the cookie. The UID is session-independent and static (does not change after authentication), enabling either cookie theft via XSS or session fixation attacks where an attacker sets a known UID value before user login, then hijacks the authenticated session.
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<= 7.1.27CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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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Identify TopEase installation versionLocate the TopEase application and determine its installed version number. Common methods include checking the product's about page, version file in the installation directory, or the HTTP response headers from the server.Affected if The installed version is 7.1.27 or lower.
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Locate the UID cookie in browserAccess the TopEase login page or authenticated session, then use browser developer tools (Application/Storage tab) or a proxy tool to inspect cookies set by the application. Identify the cookie named 'UID' or similar session identifier.Affected if A UID cookie exists without HTTPOnly flag set.
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Verify HTTPOnly flag on UID cookieIn browser developer tools, examine the UID cookie details. Look for the 'HttpOnly' attribute in the cookie attributes. Alternatively, use a tool like curl or Burp Suite to capture the Set-Cookie header and verify the presence or absence of the HttpOnly flag.Affected if The Set-Cookie header for UID does not contain 'HttpOnly' or 'Secure' flags.
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Test UID persistence across authenticationCapture the UID cookie value before user authentication. After logging in with valid credentials, capture the UID cookie value again. Compare the two values to determine if the UID changes.Affected if The UID cookie value remains identical before and after successful authentication.
You are affected if your TopEase version is 7.1.27 or lower AND the UID cookie lacks the HTTPOnly flag, allowing XSS-based cookie theft or session fixation.
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.
From vendor dataSet the HTTPOnly and Secure flags on the UID cookie, and replace the static UID with dynamic session tokens that rotate upon authentication to prevent session fixation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-42115 — 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-2021-42115 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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