CVE-2021-31403 | Timing side channel vulnerability in UIDL request handler in Vaadin 7 and 8

Non-constant-time comparison of CSRF tokens in UIDL request handler in com.vaadin:vaadin-server versions 7.0.0 through 7.7.23 (Vaadin 7.0.0 through 7.7.23), and 8.0.0 through 8.12.2 (Vaadin 8.0.0 through 8.12.2) allows attacker to guess a security token via timing attack

Published: 2021-04-23 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-31403 is rated Low Risk (27/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.12%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2021-31403

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 2025-11-21 0.05% 0.12% +0.07%
2 2025-11-18 0.12% 0.05% -0.07%
3 2025-03-17 0.12%

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-31403

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.0 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.4 2.5 [email protected]
2.5 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.0 1.4 [email protected]
1.9 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
3.4 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-31403

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-31403

GHSA-75xc-qvxh-27f8 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: maven — Timing side channel vulnerability in UIDL request handler in Vaadin 7 and 8

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-31403

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vaadin vaadin >= 7.0.0, < 7.7.24 cpe:2.3:a:vaadin:vaadin:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vaadin vaadin >= 8.0.0, < 8.12.3 cpe:2.3:a:vaadin:vaadin:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-31403

cvelogic Threat Intelligence