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Couchbase ServerApplication · Couchbase

CVE-2021-42763

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-11-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.6.0 / 6.1.0 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Couchbase Server before 6.6.3 and 7.x before 7.0.2 stores Sensitive Information in Cleartext. The issue occurs when the cluster manager forwards a HTTP request from the pluggable UI (query workbench etc) to the specific service. In the backtrace, the Basic Auth Header included in the HTTP request, has the "@" user credentials of the node processing the UI request.

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

Couchbase Server before 6.6.3 and 7.0.2 stores sensitive information in cleartext. When the cluster manager forwards HTTP requests from the pluggable UI (query workbench, etc.) to specific services, the Basic Auth Header containing '@' user credentials is exposed in cleartext during this forwarding process.

MitigationUpgrade Couchbase Server to version 6.6.3 or 7.0.2 or later to remediate the cleartext credential exposure vulnerability.

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
Couchbase ServerApplication
Affected:< 4.6.0>= 5.0.0, < 6.1.0>= 6.5.0, <= 6.6.2= 7.0.0= 7.0.1

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed Couchbase Server version
    Access the Couchbase Web UI: navigate to Settings > About, or run the command-line tool: couchbase-cli cluster-init -c localhost:8091 --username <admin> --password <pass> --list or check the version file in the installation directory if CLI access is unavailable. The version is also displayed on the login screen of the admin UI.
    Affected if The installed version is one of: < 4.6.0, >= 5.0.0 and < 6.1.0, >= 6.5.0 and <= 6.6.2, 7.0.0, or 7.0.1
  2. Verify pluggable UI features are in use
    Check if Query Workbench, Analytics Workbench, or other pluggable UI components are accessible or have been used. In the Couchbase Web UI, these are found under the Query tab (Query Workbench) or Analytics tab. These interfaces trigger the vulnerable HTTP forwarding path.
    Affected if Query Workbench, Analytics Workbench, or similar pluggable UI features are being accessed or have been used, causing the cluster manager to forward requests with credentials.
  3. Inspect network traffic or logs for cleartext credentials
    Capture network traffic (using tcpdump or a network analyzer) between the Couchbase Web UI and cluster manager, or examine Couchbase server logs for HTTP request headers. Look for Authorization or Basic Auth headers containing Base64-encoded credentials in plain text.
    Affected if Basic Auth headers containing user credentials are visible in cleartext within HTTP requests or logs during UI-to-service forwarding.

You are affected if your installed Couchbase Server version falls within the vulnerable ranges (pre-4.6.0, 5.0.0-6.0.x, 6.5.0-6.6.2, 7.0.0-7.0.1) AND the Query Workbench or other pluggable UI features are in use, exposing credentials in cleartext during request forwarding.

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 4.6.0 / 6.1.0 or later
Fixed in 4.6.06.1.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Couchbase Server to version 6.6.3 or 7.0.2 or later to remediate the cleartext credential exposure vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

6.6.3 or 7.0.2 (depending on your current major version branch)

  1. 1. Identify your current Couchbase Server version using the UI or cbversion command
  2. 2. For versions 6.5.0 through 6.6.2: Plan upgrade to version 6.6.3 or later
  3. 3. For version 7.0.0: Plan upgrade to version 7.0.2 or later
  4. 4. Review Couchbase upgrade documentation for your specific version transition
  5. 5. Perform a rolling upgrade or cluster rebalance following Couchbase best practices
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful and test query workbench functionality
Caveat Upgrading across major version branches (e.g., 6.x to 7.x) may require compatibility review; same-branch upgrades (6.5.x to 6.6.3) typically have minimal disruption

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

Fix this in Couchbase Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2021-42763 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