HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2021-21290
MEDIUM

CVE-2021-21290

CWE-378Published: February 8, 2021· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

5.5
CVSS v3.1

Official Description

Netty is an open-source, asynchronous event-driven network application framework for rapid development of maintainable high performance protocol servers & clients. In Netty before version 4.1.59.Final there is a vulnerability on Unix-like systems involving an insecure temp file. When netty's multipart decoders are used local information disclosure can occur via the local system temporary directory if temporary storing uploads on the disk is enabled. On unix-like systems, the temporary directory is shared between all user. As such, writing to this directory using APIs that do not explicitly set the file/directory permissions can lead to information disclosure. Of note, this does not impact modern MacOS Operating Systems. The method "File.createTempFile" on unix-like systems creates a random file, but, by default will create this file with the permissions "-rw-r--r--". Thus, if sensitive information is written to this file, other local users can read this information. This is the case in netty's "AbstractDiskHttpData" is vulnerable. This has been fixed in version 4.1.59.Final. As a workaround, one may specify your own "java.io.tmpdir" when you start the JVM or use "DefaultHttpDataFactory.setBaseDir(...)" to set the directory to something that is only readable by the current user.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2021-21290 requires local access, meaning attackers must already have a foothold on the target system.

Exploitation requires low privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), with a CVSS base score of 5.5.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorLocal
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges Req.Low
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityNone
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Affected Vendors & Products

Debian1 product(s)
debian linux
netapp3 product(s)
active iq unified managercloud secure agentsnapcenter
netty1 product(s)
netty
Oracle7 product(s)
banking corporate lending process managementbanking credit facilities process managementbanking trade finance process managementcommunications brm - elastic charging enginecommunications design studiocommunications messaging servernosql database
quarkus1 product(s)
quarkus
Source: NVD CPE · 20 total CPE entries

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
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Official Patches & Advisories

All References (78)

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2021-21290
CVSS Score5.5 / 10
SeverityMEDIUM
WeaknessCWE-378
CISA KEVNo
Affected5 vendor(s)
PublishedFeb 8, 2021

Related CVEs (CWE-378)

Recommended Actions

  • Apply vendor patches immediately
  • Monitor CVE-2021-21290 in threat intel feeds
  • Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWatch. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.