CVE-2021-42009 | Apache Traffic Control Traffic Ops Email Injection Vulnerability

An authenticated Apache Traffic Control Traffic Ops user with Portal-level privileges can send a request with a specially-crafted email subject to the /deliveryservices/request Traffic Ops endpoint to send an email, from the Traffic Ops server, with an arbitrary body to an arbitrary email address. Apache Traffic Control 5.1.x users should upgrade to 5.1.3 or 6.0.0. 4.1.x users should upgrade to 5.1.3.

Published: 2021-10-12 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-42009 is rated Moderate Risk (48.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.73%). EPSS rose +2.08% 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-2021-42009

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 0.65% 2.73% +2.08%
2 2025-06-25 0.57% 0.65% +0.08%
3 2025-03-30 — 0.57% —

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-42009

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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: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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
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.
 2.8 1.4 [email protected]
4.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:P/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:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-42009

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-42009

GHSA-gw97-f6h8-gm94 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: go — Email relay in Apache Traffic Control

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-42009

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache traffic_control >= 4.1.0, < 5.1.3 cpe:2.3:a:apache:traffic_control:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-42009

cvelogic Threat Intelligence