Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
An authenticated Rundeck user who can read webhooks in one project could expose webhook definitions and tokens from another project. Those tokens could then trigger webhooks. Business risk depends on whether Rundeck webhooks perform sensitive automation and how much trust is placed in authenticated users.
Executive priority
Prioritize patching where Rundeck controls production, deployment, or privileged automation. This is not described as unauthenticated or actively exploited, but token disclosure across projects can turn ordinary user access into unauthorized automation control.
Technical view
CVE-2021-41111 is a CWE-639 authorization bypass in Rundeck before 3.3.15 and 3.4.5. A low-privileged authenticated user with webhook read authorization in one project can craft a request that crosses project boundaries and discloses webhook definitions and tokens, enabling webhook triggering.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to Rundeck deployments running versions below 3.3.15 or 3.4.0 through below 3.4.5, where authenticated users can read webhooks and projects use webhook tokens. Instances without webhooks or without lower-trust authenticated users have lower practical risk.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Exploitation requires authenticated access and existing webhook read authorization in at least one project. Impact increases if exposed webhooks launch deployments, jobs, or other sensitive automation.
Researcher notes
The key issue is cross-project object access through a user-controlled key, matching CWE-639. Validate authorization boundaries around webhook lookup paths without publishing request construction details. Severity is context-dependent because confidentiality and integrity impact depend on the webhooks exposed.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Rundeck to 3.3.15, 3.4.5, or later patched versions.
- Treat vendor sources as naming no workaround for unpatched systems.
- Inventory webhook usage and identify tokens present during the vulnerable period.
- Check vendor guidance before rotating webhook tokens or changing webhook definitions.
- Limit webhook read permissions to users who require them.
Validation and detection
- Confirm all Rundeck servers are not running affected versions.
- Verify the patched version is deployed across every Rundeck environment.
- Inventory projects with webhooks and map sensitive automated actions.
- Review audit or job history for unexpected webhook-triggered activity.
- Confirm webhook read access is restricted to intended roles.
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-639: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. 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 lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-41111 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
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:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N3.12.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/rundeck/rundeck/security/advisories/GHSA-mfqj-f22m-gv8jCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/rundeck/rundeck/commit/a3bdc06a0731da902593732022a5b9d2b4facec5CVE 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.
Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.