Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-31475 lets an authenticated remote attacker abuse SolarWinds Orion Job Scheduler to run code with administrator-level privileges. The impact is serious because Orion commonly sits in privileged monitoring environments. The supplied sources do not show active exploitation or confirm broader affected versions.
Executive priority
Prioritize within normal high-severity remediation windows, faster for internet-adjacent or broadly accessible Orion environments. The business concern is authenticated remote code execution inside a privileged monitoring platform, which could support deeper compromise if an attacker already has credentials.
Technical view
The flaw is in the JobRouterService WCF service in SolarWinds Orion Job Scheduler 2020.2.1 HF 2. A WCF configuration issue exposes a critical resource to unprivileged users, enabling authenticated remote code execution as an administrator. CVSS is 8.8 high, with low attack complexity and low privileges required.
Likely exposure
Likely exposure is limited to installations running SolarWinds Orion Job Scheduler 2020.2.1 HF 2. Risk is higher where low-privileged users can authenticate and reach the JobRouterService over the network. The supplied bundle does not identify other affected versions.
Exploitation context
Authentication is required, but only low privileges are listed. No user interaction is required. The source bundle marks CISA KEV as false, and no supplied source states active exploitation. Treat this as a privilege-expanding RCE risk, not confirmed internet-wide exploitation.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports authenticated RCE through WCF service misconfiguration and improper permission assignment. The supplied sources do not provide exploit details, active exploitation evidence, or a complete affected-version range. Avoid assuming unauthenticated access or impact beyond SolarWinds Orion Job Scheduler 2020.2.1 HF 2.
Mitigation direction
- Identify Orion Job Scheduler installations and confirm exact version and hotfix level.
- Review SolarWinds Orion Platform 2020.2.5 release notes and current vendor guidance.
- Upgrade or remediate according to SolarWinds guidance for affected Orion deployments.
- Restrict network access to Orion management services to trusted administrative networks.
- Review low-privileged Orion accounts and remove unnecessary access.
Validation and detection
- Inventory SolarWinds Orion hosts and verify whether 2020.2.1 HF 2 is present.
- Confirm whether JobRouterService is reachable from user or less-trusted network segments.
- Check Orion user roles for low-privileged accounts with unnecessary authenticated access.
- Review logs for unexpected Job Scheduler activity or administrator-context execution.
- Verify remediation by confirming the vendor-recommended fixed version or mitigation state.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-732: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-31475 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.8 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H2.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
8.8HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-21-605/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://documentation.solarwinds.com/en/success_center/orionplatform/content/release_notes/orion_platform_2020-2-5_release_notes.htmCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.