CVE-2021-43762
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 · uneditedAEM's Cloud Service offering, as well as version 6.5.10.0 (and below) are affected by a dispatcher bypass vulnerability that could be abused to evade security controls. Sensitive areas of the web application may be exposed through exploitation of the vulnerability.
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 confidenceAdobe Experience Manager's dispatcher (Apache HTTP Server module) has a bypass vulnerability in versions 6.5.10.0 and below and Cloud Service offerings. The vulnerability allows attackers to circumvent dispatcher security rules, potentially exposing sensitive application paths and resources that should be protected by the dispatcher's filtering logic.
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<= 6.5.10.0all versionsCVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the AEM dispatcher versionCheck the dispatcher module version by examining the Apache HTTP Server error logs, or run 'httpd -v' if the dispatcher is packaged with Apache. For AEM, the dispatcher version is typically tied to the AEM release version - check your AEM version in the 'About Adobe Experience Manager' console (Help > About Adobe Experience Manager).Affected if The AEM version is 6.5.10.0 or below, or the deployment is AEM Cloud Service (all versions are affected)
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Determine if running AEM Cloud ServiceCheck your deployment type through the AEM Cloud Manager console or by verifying if your environment is hosted on Adobe's cloud infrastructure ( *.adobeaemcloud.com domains). Cloud Service deployments are affected regardless of version.Affected if The environment is AEM Cloud Service (all versions affected)
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Review dispatcher configuration filesLocate and inspect the dispatcher.any or dispatcher.conf configuration files (typically in /etc/httpd/conf.d/ or /etc/httpd/confispatcher.d/ on the dispatcher server). Identify all allow and deny rules, particularly URL patterns defined in the 'filter' section.Affected if The dispatcher configuration contains filter rules that protect sensitive paths - these rules may be bypassable due to this vulnerability
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Test for rule bypass with encoded pathsManually test protected paths using URL encoding variations. For example, if /admin is blocked, try variations like /%64ispatcher%2Fadmin or other encoding techniques that could bypass the filter regex patterns. Use curl or a similar tool to send requests to suspected sensitive endpoints.Affected if Requests with encoded or manipulated paths return content that should be blocked by dispatcher filter rules
You are affected if running AEM Dispatcher version 6.5.10.0 or below, or any AEM Cloud Service version, and your dispatcher configuration contains filter rules protecting sensitive paths that could be bypassed.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply the appropriate Adobe security patch for CVE-2021-43762 and review dispatcher configuration rules to ensure sensitive paths are properly blocked, especially in AEM Cloud Service configurations.
AEM 6.5.11.0 or later (AEM Cloud Service patches are managed by Adobe)
- 1. Identify your current AEM version by checking the product version in the AEM Web Console or About Adobe Experience Manager page.
- 2. For AEM 6.5.10.0 or below: Schedule a maintenance window and upgrade to AEM 6.5.11.0 or later, which contains the security fix for this dispatcher bypass vulnerability.
- 3. For AEM Cloud Service: Contact Adobe support to confirm the fix has been deployed to your cloud environment, as Adobe manages Cloud Service patches centrally.
- 4. After upgrading, verify the dispatcher configuration includes proper filtering rules to prevent bypass attempts.
- 5. Test that sensitive paths (such as /etc, /bin, internal APIs) cannot be accessed through known bypass techniques.
- 6. Review and apply any additional dispatcher security configurations recommended in the official Adobe security documentation.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-43762 — 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-2021-43762 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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- 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