BlackTreeCVE Intelligence
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Full vulnerability report · 2021
CVE-2021-20220High confidence

A flaw was found in Undertow

Unknown · undertow

4.8MediumCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Scheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Patch available
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityMediumOperational priority:Medium, unchanged from published severity.unchanged

Evidence used

  • No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
  • The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
  • EPSS is 1.20% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
  • Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
  • Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Unknown undertow and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: As exposure requiresRemediation target: Within 365 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Distribution package intelligence

Release-specific package status

Debian, ubuntu findings are scoped to the named distribution, release and source package. An absent finding does not mean a package is unaffected.

3 package states
Repository candidate not checked

A published vendor fix does not prove that a matching update is enabled and installable on a particular asset. Confirm the local package candidate before scheduling remediation.

Distribution releaseSource packageVendor stateFixed versionEvidence
Debian forkyforky · sourceundertowVendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release.2.2.0-1Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 6 Oct 2026
Debian sidsid · sourceundertowVendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release.2.2.0-1Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 6 Oct 2026
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSnoble · esm-appsundertowUnder evaluationCanonical reports that the package might be affected and still needs evaluation or fixing.Not published in this feedCanonical Ubuntu Security ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026
Direct vendor intelligence

Authoritative vendor CSAF and VEX advisories

Structured product status and remediation from the issuing vendor. Product-state explanations are always visible; large lists can be searched or downloaded.

1 current
CVE-2021-20220 · CSAF 2.0 · revision 3 · finalRed Hat Product Securityundertow: Possible regression in fix for CVE-2020-10687
4 known affected

The vendor explicitly identifies these products as affected by this CVE.

  • wildfly-undertow as a component of Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 7
  • wildfly-undertow as a component of Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform Expansion Pack
  • undertow as a component of Red Hat JBoss Fuse 6
  • wildfly-undertow as a component of Red Hat OpenShift Application Runtimes
Summary
A flaw was found in Undertow. A regression in the fix for CVE-2020-10687 was found. HTTP request smuggling related to CVE-2017-2666 is possible against HTTP/1.x and HTTP/2 due to permitting invalid characters in an HTTP request. This flaw allows an attacker to poison a web-cache, perform an XSS attack, or obtain sensitive information from request other than their own. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity.
Remediation
Before applying this update, ensure all previously released errata relevant to your system have been applied. For details about how to apply this update, see: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2021-1382

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionScheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Patch available
01

What, why and how

A flaw was found in Undertow. A regression in the fix for CVE-2020-10687 was found. HTTP request smuggling related to CVE-2017-2666 is possible against HTTP/1.x and HTTP/2 due to permitting invalid characters in an HTTP request. This flaw allows an attacker to poison a web-cache, perform an XSS attack, or obtain sensitive information from request other than their own. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity.

What

A flaw was found in Undertow. A regression in the fix for CVE-2020-10687 was found. HTTP request smuggling related to CVE-2017-2666 is possible against HTTP/1.x and HTTP/2 due to permitting invalid characters in an HTTP request. This flaw allows an attacker to poison a web-cache, perform an XSS attack, or obtain sensitive information from request other than their own. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity.

Why

The product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may obtain information outside the intended access boundary.

What

A flaw was found in Undertow. A regression in the fix for CVE-2020-10687 was found. HTTP request smuggling related to CVE-2017-2666 is possible against HTTP/1.x and HTTP/2 due to permitting invalid characters in an HTTP request. This flaw allows an attacker to poison a web-cache, perform an XSS attack, or obtain sensitive information from request other than their own. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity.

Why

The product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may obtain information outside the intended access boundary.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
a network path → Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling') → obtain information outside the intended access boundary
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
High: exploitation depends on specific conditions
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-444 ↗

CWE-444: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling'). The product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACHighAttack complexity: Successful exploitation depends on specific conditions outside the attacker's direct control.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CLowConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.ILowIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
NetworkUnauthenticatedCWE-444
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

BSI · German · WID-SEC-2023-1272Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Ein entfernter, anonymer oder lokaler Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform ausnutzen, um einen Denial-of-Service-Zustand auslösen, Informationen offenzulegen, Daten zu manipulieren, Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen oder einen Cross-Site-Scripting-Angriff durchführen.

Official advisory ↗
Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20210224Security Bulletin 24 Feb 2021

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 24 Feb 2021, published on 24 February 2021. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2021-003973Undertow における HTTP リクエストスマグリングに関する脆弱性

Undertow には、HTTP リクエストスマグリングに関する脆弱性が存在します。

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Patch available
Affected
Fixed
Action
Before applying this update, ensure all previously released errata relevant to your system have been applied. For details about how to apply this update, see: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 23 Feb 2021 · Last source change 3 Aug 2024, 17:30 UTC · CWE-444 · Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling')

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-1382
Product sourceVendor CSAF · Red Hat Product Security
Remediation sourceVendor CSAF · Red Hat Product Security
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment

Missing structured fields: affected product. Missing data is not evidence of low risk; review the primary advisory.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    Undertow 2.2.0.Final, Undertow 2.1.6.Final, Undertow 2.0.34.Final · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    Undertow 2.2.0.Final, Undertow 2.1.6.Final, Undertow 2.0.34.Final · Fixed: Before applying this update, ensure all previously released errata relevant to your system have been applied. For details about how to apply this update, see: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
    Red Hat Product Security ↗
  2. Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Awaiting fix to Patch available.
    Before
    Awaiting fix
    After
    Patch available
    Red Hat Product Security ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Fixed release recorded from official guidance
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-1382↗Red Hat Product Security security advisory↗CVE authority or vendor reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2021-20220 · cve.blacktree.nl