dbcve.org
Vantara PentahoApplication · Hitachi

CVE-2021-45446

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-11-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.3.0.25 / 9.2.0.2 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
A vulnerability in Hitachi Vantara Pentaho Business Analytics Server versions before 9.2.0.2 and 8.3.0.25 does not cascade the hidden property to the children of the Home folder.  This directory listing provides an attacker with the complete index of all the resources located inside the directory.

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

Hitachi Vantara Pentaho Business Analytics Server versions before 9.2.0.2 and 8.3.0.25 fail to cascade the 'hidden' property to child folders within the Home directory. This allows unauthenticated attackers to obtain a complete directory listing exposing all resources, files, and potentially sensitive content stored in those folders.

MitigationUpgrade Pentaho Business Analytics Server to version 9.2.0.2, 8.3.0.25, or later. Alternatively, manually ensure the 'hidden' property is applied to all child folders within the Home directory.

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
Vantara PentahoApplication
Affected:>= 8.3.0.0, < 8.3.0.25>= 9.2.0.0, < 9.2.0.2

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
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 the installed Pentaho Business Analytics Server version
    Check the version file or startup logs. Common locations include version.info in the installation directory, or examine the pentaho WAR file manifest. The version is typically displayed in the server console or logs during startup.
    Affected if The installed version is 8.3.0.0 through 8.3.0.24, or 9.2.0.0 through 9.2.0.1 (before the patches).
  2. Locate the Home directory structure
    The Home directory is the default repository root where Pentaho stores user folders and files. Access the server file system and identify the directory configured as the Pentaho repository root (often named 'home' or 'pentaho-solutions' in the installation).
    Affected if The Home directory exists and contains child folders that should be hidden but are visible.
  3. Inspect the hidden property on child folders
    Use the file system or Pentaho administration tools to examine the 'hidden' attribute on subfolders within the Home directory. Check whether the property is explicitly set on parent folders but not cascaded to children. In Pentaho, this may be verifiable through the repository service or by examining folder metadata.
    Affected if Child folders within the Home directory lack the 'hidden' property that should have been inherited from parent folders.
  4. Verify unauthenticated directory listing exposure
    Attempt to access the Home directory via HTTP without authentication. Use a web browser or curl to request the root Home folder URL (such as /pentaho/Home/ or the repository root endpoint) without providing credentials.
    Affected if An unauthenticated request returns a complete listing of all files and folders, including those that should be hidden.

A user is affected if the installed Pentaho version falls within 8.3.0.0-8.3.0.24 or 9.2.0.0-9.2.0.1 AND the Home directory child folders are visible to unauthenticated users.

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 8.3.0.25 / 9.2.0.2 or later
Fixed in 8.3.0.259.2.0.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Pentaho Business Analytics Server to version 9.2.0.2, 8.3.0.25, or later. Alternatively, manually ensure the 'hidden' property is applied to all child folders within the Home directory.

Recommended fix High confidence

Pentaho 8.3.0.25 (for 8.x installations) or Pentaho 9.2.0.2 (for 9.x installations)

  1. Back up your Pentaho configuration and data directories before proceeding with the upgrade
  2. Download the fixed Pentaho version (8.3.0.25 for the 8.x line or 9.2.0.2 for the 9.x line) from the official Hitachi Vantara support portal at support.pentaho.com
  3. Stop the Pentaho Business Analytics Server service
  4. Install the new version by replacing the existing Pentaho installation files with the fixed version files
  5. Restore your backed-up configuration files (pentaho.xml, web.xml, and any custom datasources) to the new installation
  6. Start the Pentaho Business Analytics Server service
  7. Verify the fix by confirming that the Home folder's hidden property now cascades to child resources and directory listing is prevented
  8. Test that legitimate users can still access the Home folder and its contents as expected
Caveat Minor version upgrades in Pentaho typically preserve configuration compatibility, but custom plugins or PDI repositories may require testing in a non-production environment first

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

Fix this in Vantara Pentaho Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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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-2021-45446 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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