CVE-2021-20502

IBM Jazz Foundation Products are vulnerable to an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) attack when processing XML data. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to expose sensitive information or consume memory resources. IBM X-Force ID: 198059.

Published: 2021-03-30 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-20502 is rated Moderate Risk (53.6/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.40%). EPSS rose +1.12% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-20502

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.27% 1.40% +1.12%
2 2025-11-21 0.38% 0.27% -0.11%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.38% —

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-20502

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 2.8 4.2 [email protected]
7.1 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 2.8 4.2 [email protected]
5.5 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.0 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-20502

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-20502

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ibm engineering_insights 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:engineering_insights:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm engineering_insights 7.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:engineering_insights:7.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm engineering_insights 7.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:engineering_insights:7.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm engineering_lifecycle_management 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:engineering_lifecycle_management:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm engineering_requirements_quality_assistant_on-premises — cpe:2.3:a:ibm:engineering_requirements_quality_assistant_on-premises:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm engineering_workflow_management 7.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:engineering_workflow_management:7.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm engineering_workflow_management 7.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:engineering_workflow_management:7.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm engineering_workflow_management 7.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:engineering_workflow_management:7.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm rational_engineering_lifecycle_manager 6.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:rational_engineering_lifecycle_manager:6.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm rational_engineering_lifecycle_manager 6.0.6 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:rational_engineering_lifecycle_manager:6.0.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm rational_engineering_lifecycle_manager 6.0.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:rational_engineering_lifecycle_manager:6.0.6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm rational_team_concert 6.0.6 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:rational_team_concert:6.0.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm rational_team_concert 6.0.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:rational_team_concert:6.0.6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm rational_team_concert 6.0.6.2 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:rational_team_concert:6.0.6.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-20502

cvelogic Threat Intelligence