Cyber Resilience

CVE-2021-29441

Auth Bypass in Alibaba Nacos ≤ 1.4.1

Public PoCHigh EPSSAuth Bypass
Published
27 April 2021
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.69 99.3th percentile
Risk Priority 85 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2021-29441 is a high-severity Authentication Bypass by Spoofing (CWE-290) vulnerability in Alibaba Nacos. Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Nacos is a platform designed for dynamic service discovery and configuration and service management. In Nacos before version 1.4.1, when configured to use authentication (-Dnacos.core.auth.enabled=true) Nacos uses the AuthFilter servlet filter to enforce authentication. This filter has a backdoor that…

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enables Nacos servers to bypass this filter and therefore skip authentication checks. This mechanism relies on the user-agent HTTP header so it can be easily spoofed. This issue may allow any user to carry out any administrative tasks on the Nacos server.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
The vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to bypass authentication and perform administrative actions on a public-facing Nacos server.
T1078 Valid Accounts Stealthconfidence: MEDIUM
Successful exploitation grants the attacker the ability to abuse valid administrative accounts or functionality without proper credentials.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2021-29442Same product: Alibaba Nacos
CVE-2023-43304Shared CWE-290
CVE-2025-54305Shared CWE-290
CVE-2025-32788Shared CWE-290
CVE-2026-35656Shared CWE-290
CVE-2024-36466Shared CWE-290
CVE-2025-59699Shared CWE-290
CVE-2026-21862Shared CWE-290
CVE-2026-12382Shared CWE-290
CVE-2023-51326Shared CWE-290

Affected Assets

alibaba
nacos
≤ 1.4.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.4.3
  • V10.4.16
  • V10.5.1
  • V11.4.3

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.

addresses: CWE-290

Reveals spoofed logon attempts through unexpected previous logon timestamps upon legitimate login.

addresses: CWE-290

Training specifically addresses recognizing spoofed communications and phishing that enable authentication bypass.

addresses: CWE-290

Requiring verifiable identity evidence at appropriate assurance levels makes it substantially harder for attackers to successfully spoof or impersonate users to obtain accounts.

addresses: CWE-290

Unique device authentication makes successful spoofing of device identity substantially more difficult to achieve.

addresses: CWE-290

Unique identification of non-organizational users reduces the feasibility of authentication bypass by spoofing.

addresses: CWE-290

Unique identification and authentication of services before communications makes spoofing of service identities substantially harder.

addresses: CWE-290

Isolated trusted path ensures the user interacts only with genuine system components, preventing spoofing of authentication interfaces or prompts.

addresses: CWE-290

Directly counters DNS response spoofing by requiring cryptographic origin authentication artifacts from the authoritative source.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-04 full match
prevents

Protecting, conveying, and verifying identity assertions specifically prevents the spoofing that enables authentication bypass.

PR.AA-03 mostly match
prevents

Requiring authentication of users/services/hardware directly counters spoofing-based bypass when strong methods are used.

PR.AA-02 partial match
prevents

Proofing and binding identities reduces spoofing opportunities during enrollment but does not address runtime authentication implementation flaws.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

degrades

Secure authentication control directly mitigates authentication bypass by spoofing.

degrades

Authentication information management directly addresses credential handling that prevents spoofing.

detects

Security testing can detect spoofing vulnerabilities but does not prevent them by itself.

prevents

Access control policy reduces spoofing opportunities but does not prescribe authentication mechanisms.

prevents

Identity management supports unique identities but does not guarantee resistance to spoofing.

prevents

Access rights assignment limits exposure but does not enforce authentication strength.

References