CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-38163 — SAP NetWeaver Unrestricted File Upload Vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.9 CISA KEV

SAP NetWeaver (Visual Composer 7.0 RT) versions - 7.30, 7.31, 7.40, 7.50, without restriction, an attacker authenticated as a non-administrative user can upload a malicious file over a network and trigger its processing, which is capable of running operating system commands with the privilege of the Java Server process. These commands can be used to read or modify any information on the server or shut the server down making it unavailable.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.9 (3.1)
Published
2021-09-14
CISA KEV
Known exploited
Ecosystem
java/maven
Weaknesses
CWE-22

Affected products

  • sap / netweaver / 7.30
  • sap / netweaver / 7.31
  • sap / netweaver / 7.40
  • sap / netweaver / 7.50

Matched remediation archetype

Path traversal, unsafe upload, and file handling

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

Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted filenames, archive entries, URLs, and path segments into read, write, include, extraction, and upload operations.
  • Identify filesystem roots, mount permissions, symbolic-link behavior, archive handling, and whether uploaded content is web-accessible or executable.
  • Review canonicalization and containment checks across supported operating systems and storage backends.

Remediate safely

  • Generate server-side storage identifiers and resolve paths beneath a fixed root using filesystem-aware containment checks.
  • Reject absolute, parent-relative, alternate-separator, device, link, and archive entries that escape the intended root.
  • Store uploads outside executable or served paths, validate type and size, and use private atomic temporary files.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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