Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-32103 is a stored cross-site scripting issue in OpenEMR before 5.0.2.1. An authenticated admin can save malicious script or HTML through the user group last-name field. The evidence shows a real application flaw, but not active exploitation or a public CVSS score.
Executive priority
Treat this as a hygiene and insider-risk issue, not an emergency unless vulnerable OpenEMR admin access is broadly shared or weakly protected. Prioritize upgrade validation for healthcare environments because stored script in an EHR can create compliance and operational risk.
Technical view
The issue is in interface/usergroup/usergroup_admin.php. The lname parameter can persist arbitrary web script or HTML when submitted by an authenticated administrator. The source bundle does not provide exploit details, affected CPEs, CVSS, or a CWE mapping.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations running OpenEMR versions before 5.0.2.1 where administrator accounts can access user group administration. Internet exposure matters less than admin account compromise or insider misuse because the described attacker is already authenticated as admin.
Exploitation context
The CVE record does not indicate CISA KEV listing, active exploitation, or unauthenticated exploitation. Public references discuss OpenEMR security fixes, but this bundle only directly supports stored XSS via lname by an authenticated admin.
Researcher notes
The source data is sparse: no CVSS, CWE, affected CPE, or exploit evidence is provided. The strongest claim supported is authenticated-admin stored XSS before OpenEMR 5.0.2.1 through lname in usergroup_admin.php.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade OpenEMR installations before 5.0.2.1 to 5.0.2.1 or later vendor-supported releases.
- Review OpenEMR vendor guidance and release notes before applying production updates.
- Restrict OpenEMR administrator access to trusted, named users only.
- Remove stale administrator accounts and enforce strong authentication controls.
- Monitor user group administration changes for suspicious lname content.
Validation and detection
- Inventory OpenEMR versions and flag any release before 5.0.2.1.
- Confirm whether interface/usergroup/usergroup_admin.php is present in deployed instances.
- Review administrator account lists and recent user group administration activity.
- Check stored user group profile fields for unexpected script or HTML content.
- Verify update completion against OpenEMR version reporting and vendor documentation.
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.
CVE-2021-32103 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
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 and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://blog.sonarsource.com/openemr-5-0-2-1-command-injection-vulnerabilityCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://community.sonarsource.com/t/openemr-5-0-2-1-command-injection-vulnerability-puts-health-records-at-risk/33592CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://community.open-emr.org/t/openemr-5-0-2-patch-5-has-been-released/15431CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/healthcare-security-openemr-fixes-serious-flaws-that-lead-to-command-execution-in-patient-portalCVE 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.