CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-32753 — EdgeX Foundry is an open source project for building a common open framework for internet-of-things edge computing

High CVSS 8.3

EdgeX Foundry is an open source project for building a common open framework for internet-of-things edge computing. A vulnerability exists in the Edinburgh, Fuji, Geneva, and Hanoi versions of the software. When the EdgeX API gateway is configured for OAuth2 authentication and a proxy user is created, the client_id and client_secret required to obtain an OAuth2 authentication token are set to the username of the proxy user. A remote network attacker can then perform a dictionary-based password attack on the OAuth2 token endpoint of the API gateway to obtain an OAuth2 authentication token and use that token to make authenticated calls to EdgeX microservices from an untrusted network. OAuth2 is the default authentication method in EdgeX Edinburgh release. The default authentication method was changed to JWT in Fuji and later releases. Users should upgrade to the EdgeX Ireland release to obtain the fix. The OAuth2 authentication method is disabled in Ireland release. If unable to upgrade and OAuth2 authentication is required, users should create OAuth2 users directly using the Kong admin API and forgo the use of the `security-proxy-setup` tool to create OAuth2 users.

Severity
High
CVSS
8.3 (3.1)
Published
2021-07-09
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-284, CWE-287, CWE-521

Affected products

  • edgexfoundry / edgex_foundry

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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