CVE-2021-22696

moderate-risk
Published 2021-04-02

CXF supports (via JwtRequestCodeFilter) passing OAuth 2 parameters via a JWT token as opposed to query parameters (see: The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework: JWT Secured Authorization Request (JAR)). Instead of sending a JWT token as a "request" parameter, the spec also supports specifying a URI from which to retrieve a JWT token from via the "request_uri" parameter. CXF was not validating the "request_uri" parameter (apart from ensuring it uses "https) and was making a REST request to the parameter in the request to retrieve a token. This means that CXF was vulnerable to DDos attacks on the authorization server, as specified in section 10.4.1 of the spec. This issue affects Apache CXF versions prior to 3.4.3; Apache CXF versions prior to 3.3.10.

Do I need to act?

~
2.0% chance of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS score — moderate exploit probability
-
Not on CISA KEV list
No confirmed active exploitation reported to CISA
?
Patch status unknown
Check vendor advisories for fix availability and mitigation guidance
7
CVSS 7.5/10 High
NETWORK / LOW complexity

Affected Vendors

46
/ 100
moderate-risk
Severity 26/34 · High
Exploitability 5/34 · Minimal
Exposure 15/34 · Moderate