CVE-2021-25275
Published: 03 February 2021
Summary
CVE-2021-25275 is a high-severity Use of Hard-coded Credentials (CWE-798) vulnerability in Solarwinds Orion Platform. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked at the 28.1th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2021-12186
Vulnerability details
SolarWinds Orion Platform before 2020.2.4, as used by various SolarWinds products, installs and uses a SQL Server backend, and stores database credentials to access this backend in a file readable by unprivileged users. As a result, any user having access…
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to the filesystem can read database login details from that file, including the login name and its associated password. Then, the credentials can be used to get database owner access to the SWNetPerfMon.DB database. This gives access to the data collected by SolarWinds applications, and leads to admin access to the applications by inserting or changing authentication data stored in the Accounts table of the database.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Enables users to notice when hard-coded credentials have been exploited for unauthorized access.
Security training explicitly warns against hard-coded credentials, lowering their use in systems.
Policy and procedures prohibit hard-coded credentials in favor of managed authentication.
External identity providers eliminate the need for hard-coded credentials in applications.
Changing default authenticators prior to first use and protecting content prevents use of hard-coded credentials.
Central credential stores and rotation policies remove the need for hard-coded credentials in configuration files or code.
Intelligence programs surface reports of campaigns that abuse hard-coded credentials in products, prompting removal or replacement and thereby reducing successful exploitation.
Planned investment enables secure credential storage and management systems instead of hard-coded credentials.