CVE-2021-32753 | Weak password in API gateway in EdgeX Foundry Edinburgh, Fuji, Geneva, and Hanoi releases allows remote attackers to obtain authentication token via dictionary-based password attack when OAuth2 authentication method is enabled.

EdgeX Foundry is an open source project for building a common open framework for internet-of-things edge computing. A vulnerability exists in the Edinburgh, Fuji, Geneva, and Hanoi versions of the software. When the EdgeX API gateway is configured for OAuth2 authentication and a proxy user is created, the client_id and client_secret required to obtain an OAuth2 authentication token are set to the username of the proxy user. A remote network attacker can then perform a dictionary-based password attack on the OAuth2 token endpoint of the API gateway to obtain an OAuth2 authentication token and use that token to make authenticated calls to EdgeX microservices from an untrusted network. OAuth2 is the default authentication method in EdgeX Edinburgh release. The default authentication method was changed to JWT in Fuji and later releases. Users should upgrade to the EdgeX Ireland release to obtain the fix. The OAuth2 authentication method is disabled in Ireland release. If unable to upgrade and OAuth2 authentication is required, users should create OAuth2 users directly using the Kong admin API and forgo the use of the `security-proxy-setup` tool to create OAuth2 users.

Published: 2021-07-09 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-32753 is rated Moderate Risk (52.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.31%). 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-2021-32753

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 2025-11-30 0.17% 0.31% +0.13%
2 2025-03-17 0.06% 0.17% +0.11%
3 2023-03-07 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-32753

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.3 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/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: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:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
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:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 3.7 [email protected]
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N 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: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.
 3.9 2.5 [email protected]
5.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
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:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.6 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-32753

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-32753

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
edgexfoundry edgex_foundry >= 1.0.0, < 2.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:edgexfoundry:edgex_foundry:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-32753

cvelogic Threat Intelligence