YoutrackApplication · Jetbrains

CVE-2021-43185

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-11-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2021.3.23639 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
JetBrains YouTrack before 2021.3.23639 is vulnerable to Host header injection.

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 · moderate confidence

Host header injection vulnerability in JetBrains YouTrack versions prior to 2021.3.23639 allows attackers to manipulate the Host header to inject malicious values, potentially leading to web cache poisoning, password reset link manipulation, or other attacks relying on the server trusting the Host header.

MitigationUpgrade YouTrack to version 2021.3.23639 or later; additionally, configure the server to validate and whitelist expected Host values to prevent injection attacks.

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
YoutrackApplication
Affected:< 2021.3.23639

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 if YouTrack is running
    Check running processes or services for 'youtrack' or look for YouTrack web service listening on common ports (typically 8080, 8443, or 80/443) using commands like 'netstat -ano | grep -E "8080|8443"' or 'tasklist' on Windows
    Affected if YouTrack service is found running on the system
  2. Locate YouTrack installation directory
    Common locations include /opt/youtrack, /home/*/youtrack, or C:\Program Files\JetBrains\YouTrack. Check the service configuration or process properties for the actual installation path
    Affected if YouTrack installation directory exists on the system
  3. Determine installed YouTrack version
    In the YouTrack installation directory, check for a version file such as 'product-info.json', 'version.txt', or the 'youtrack.jar' manifest. Alternatively, access the YouTrack web interface and look at the version displayed in the page footer or query the /api/version endpoint if available
    Affected if A version number is found and is less than 2021.3.23639

If YouTrack is running and the installed version is below 2021.3.23639, the system is vulnerable to Host header injection attacks.

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 2021.3.23639 or later
Fixed in 2021.3.23639
Interim mitigation

Upgrade YouTrack to version 2021.3.23639 or later; additionally, configure the server to validate and whitelist expected Host values to prevent injection attacks.

Recommended fix High confidence

2021.3.23639 or later

  1. Check current YouTrack version in Administration > Application section
  2. Back up YouTrack database and configuration files before upgrading
  3. Download YouTrack version 2021.3.23639 or later from jetbrains.com
  4. Run the YouTrack installer/upgrader to apply the update
  5. Restart YouTrack service after upgrade completes
  6. Verify the application is running and accessible

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

Fix this in Youtrack Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-43185 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-43185 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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