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CVE Record

CVE-2021-35234: Exposed Dangerous Functions - Privileged Escalation

Numerous exposed dangerous functions within Orion Core has allows for read-only SQL injection leading to privileged escalation. An attacker with low-user privileges may steal password hashes and password salt information.

HighCVSS 8Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2021-35234 affects SolarWinds Orion Core. A low-privileged Orion user could abuse exposed dangerous functions to perform read-only SQL injection, potentially obtaining password hashes and salts and escalating privileges. This is serious for organizations still running Orion Core 2020.2.6 HF 2 or earlier.

Executive priority

Prioritize remediation for any affected Orion deployment because the product is operationally sensitive and credential material may be exposed. This is high urgency for unpatched environments, but the supplied evidence does not support an active-exploitation claim.

Technical view

The CVE describes CWE-89 SQL injection through exposed dangerous functions in Orion Core. CVSS 3.1 is 8.0 with low privileges required, no user interaction, high complexity, changed scope, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to SolarWinds Orion Core 2020.2.6 HF 2 and previous versions. The CVSS vector indicates adjacent-network access and low privileges are required, so risk is highest where many users or broadly reachable management networks can access Orion.

Exploitation context

The provided bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. ZDI and SolarWinds references support public disclosure, but not exploitation in the wild. Do not treat this as unauthenticated internet-wide exploitation based on the supplied evidence.

Researcher notes

Focus validation on version exposure, patch state, Orion access paths, and evidence of credential-hash access or unexpected privilege changes. The bundle identifies the issue class and affected range, but does not include proof-of-concept detail or vendor-specific detection indicators.

Mitigation direction

  • Identify all SolarWinds Orion Core deployments and versions.
  • Review SolarWinds CVE-2021-35234 advisory and Hotfix 3 guidance.
  • Upgrade or patch affected Orion Core 2020.2.6 HF 2 and earlier systems.
  • Restrict Orion access to trusted management networks and authorized users.
  • Review SolarWinds secure configuration guidance for hardening.
  • Rotate credentials if password hash exposure is suspected.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm Orion Core version is newer than the affected range.
  • Verify SolarWinds hotfix or later vendor update is installed.
  • Review Orion users and remove unnecessary low-privilege accounts.
  • Check logs for unusual database access or privilege changes.
  • Validate management interface network restrictions are enforced.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
8

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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 · medium confidence lookup

CWE-89: Database access and collection lookup

Injection into data stores can inform collection, data access, and exfiltration detection reviews. 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 lookup
description · low confidence lookup

Credential and access behavior lookup

The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
description · low confidence lookup

Database behavior lookup

The CVE wording references database injection or access, so collection and exfiltration review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2021-35234 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
8 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Official CVE source material

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.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
13Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We 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.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
8CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H1.36Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

8High
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2021-35234Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
SolarWindsOrion Core2020.2.6 HF 2 and previous versionsunaffected
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-89

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.