CVE-2021-40690 | Bypass of the secureValidation property

All versions of Apache Santuario - XML Security for Java prior to 2.2.3 and 2.1.7 are vulnerable to an issue where the "secureValidation" property is not passed correctly when creating a KeyInfo from a KeyInfoReference element. This allows an attacker to abuse an XPath Transform to extract any local .xml files in a RetrievalMethod element.

Published: 2021-09-19 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-40690 is rated Moderate Risk (51.8/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.41%). Mandatory action: 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-2021-40690

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 2026-06-06 0.28% 0.41% +0.14%
2 2026-03-20 0.38% 0.28% -0.10%
3 2026-03-04 0.38%

Full EPSS history (62 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-40690

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N 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: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.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-40690

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-40690

GHSA-j8wc-gxx9-82hx · Severity: high · Ecosystem: maven — Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor in Apache Santuario

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-40690

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-40690 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libxml-security-java), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-40690
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-40690
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-40690 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libxml-security-java), 15 status rows across 15 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 9, ignored 2, released 2, DNE 1, needed 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-40690

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-40690

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache santuario_xml_security_for_java < 2.1.7 cpe:2.3:a:apache:santuario_xml_security_for_java:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache santuario_xml_security_for_java >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3 cpe:2.3:a:apache:santuario_xml_security_for_java:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache cxf 3.4.4 cpe:2.3:a:apache:cxf:3.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache tomee < 8.0.8 cpe:2.3:a:apache:tomee:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle agile_plm 9.3.6 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:agile_plm:9.3.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle commerce_guided_search 11.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:commerce_guided_search:11.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle commerce_platform 11.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:commerce_platform:11.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_diameter_intelligence_hub >= 8.0.0, <= 8.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_intelligence_hub:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_diameter_intelligence_hub >= 8.2.0, <= 8.2.3 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_intelligence_hub:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_messaging_server 8.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_messaging_server:8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle flexcube_private_banking 12.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:flexcube_private_banking:12.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle outside_in_technology 8.5.5 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:outside_in_technology:8.5.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.58 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.58:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.59 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.59:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_bulk_data_integration 16.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_bulk_data_integration:16.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_financial_integration 14.1.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_financial_integration:14.1.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_financial_integration 15.0.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_financial_integration:15.0.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_financial_integration 16.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_financial_integration:16.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_financial_integration 19.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_financial_integration:19.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_integration_bus 14.1.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_integration_bus:14.1.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_integration_bus 15.0.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_integration_bus:15.0.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_integration_bus 16.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_integration_bus:16.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_integration_bus 19.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_integration_bus:19.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_merchandising_system 16.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_merchandising_system:16.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_merchandising_system 19.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_merchandising_system:19.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_service_backbone 14.1.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_service_backbone:14.1.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_service_backbone 15.0.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_service_backbone:15.0.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_service_backbone 16.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_service_backbone:16.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_service_backbone 19.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_service_backbone:19.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle weblogic_server 12.2.1.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:weblogic_server:12.2.1.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle weblogic_server 14.1.1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:weblogic_server:14.1.1.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-40690

URL Tags
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r3b3f5ba9b0de8c9c125077b71af06026d344a709a8ba67db81ee9faa%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r401ecb7274794f040cd757b259ebe3e8c463ae74f7961209ccad3c59%40%3Cissues.cxf.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8848751b6a5dd78cc9e99d627e74fecfaffdfa1bb615dce827aad633%40%3Cdev.santuario.apache.org%3E Issue Tracking Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8a5c0ce9014bd07303aec1e5eed55951704878016465d3dae00e0c28%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9c100d53c84d54cf71975e3f0cfcc2856a8846554a04c99390156ce4%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/raf352f95c19c0c4051af3180752cb69acbea88d0d066ab176c6170e8%40%3Cuser.poi.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbbbac0759b12472abd0c278d32b5e0867bb21934df8e14e5e641597c%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbdac116aef912b563da54f4c152222c0754e32fb2f785519ac5e059f%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/re294cfc61f509512874ea514d8d64fd276253d54ac378ffa7a4880c8%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/09/msg00015.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230818-0002/
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5010 Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html Patch Third Party Advisory
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