CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-28398 — Osgeo Geonetwork security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.2

A privileged attacker in GeoNetwork before 3.12.0 and 4.x before 4.0.4 can use the directory harvester before-script to execute arbitrary OS commands remotely on the hosting infrastructure. A User Administrator or Administrator account is required to perform this. This occurs in the runBeforeScript method in harvesters/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/harvest/harvester/localfilesystem/LocalFilesystemHarvester.java. The earliest affected version is 3.4.0.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.2 (3.1)
Published
2022-09-05
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
java/maven
Weaknesses
CWE-78

Affected products

  • osgeo / geonetwork
  • osgeo / geonetwork / 4.0.0

Showing 2 representative product identities from 4 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Command, code, expression, and template injection

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
  • Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
  • Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.

Remediate safely

  • Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
  • Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
  • Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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