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TeamcityApplication · Jetbrains

CVE-2021-43197

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-11-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2021.1.2 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
In JetBrains TeamCity before 2021.1.2, email notifications could include unescaped HTML for XSS.

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

A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in JetBrains TeamCity allows attackers to inject malicious HTML or JavaScript code into email notifications. The vulnerability stems from improper HTML escaping when rendering notification content, enabling stored XSS attacks against users who receive these emails.

MitigationUpgrade TeamCity to version 2021.1.2 or later, which contains the fix for proper HTML escaping in email notifications.

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
TeamcityApplication
Affected:< 2021.1.2

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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. Check TeamCity server version
    Navigate to the TeamCity administration dashboard, typically at /admin/admin.html?action=editServerConfig or check the About section. The version is also often visible in the footer of the TeamCity web interface.
    Affected if The installed version is any release prior to 2021.1.2 (for example, 2021.1.1, 2021.1.0, 2020.x, or earlier)
  2. Verify email notification feature is active
    Go to Administration > Email Notifier settings (or navigate to /admin/admin.html?action=editEmailNotifiers). Check whether any email notification rules are configured and enabled for users or projects.
    Affected if Email notifications are configured and enabled, meaning TeamCity is sending email notifications to users
  3. Inspect notification template configuration
    Examine the notification templates under the TeamCity data directory, typically in <TeamCity Data Directory>/config/_notifications/ or within the web application under /WEB-INF/build-server-resources/notification/ folder. Look for email template files such as notifierEmail.html or similar.
    Affected if Custom or default email notification templates exist and are used for sending notifications
  4. Confirm HTML content in notifications
    Review sample notification emails sent by TeamCity (check actual emails received or the email server logs). Look for whether user-supplied content (such as build failure messages, commit information, or custom text) appears in HTML format within these emails.
    Affected if Notification emails contain HTML-formatted content where user-provided data from builds or commits is rendered without visible escaping

You are affected if your TeamCity version is before 2021.1.2 AND the email notification feature is enabled and delivering HTML-formatted notifications containing user-generated content.

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 2021.1.2 or later
Fixed in 2021.1.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade TeamCity to version 2021.1.2 or later, which contains the fix for proper HTML escaping in email notifications.

Recommended fix High confidence

2021.1.2 or later

  1. Backup your current TeamCity data and configuration
  2. Download TeamCity 2021.1.2 or later from the official JetBrains website
  3. Stop the TeamCity server
  4. Install the new version following the standard upgrade procedure
  5. Start the TeamCity server and verify email notifications are working correctly
  6. Test that email notifications properly escape HTML content
Caveat Review TeamCity 2021.1.2 release notes for any breaking changes specific to your configuration

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

Fix this in Teamcity Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

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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-2021-43197 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