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TI-2021-12446 Aliases CVE-2021-32779

Incorrectly handling of URI '#fragment' element as part of the path element

Priority LOW 39CWE-551Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Security bypass
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · None · None
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-863.

Summary

Envoy is an open source L7 proxy and communication bus designed for large modern service oriented architectures. In affected versions envoy incorrectly handled a URI '#fragment' element as part of the path element. Envoy is configured with an RBAC filter for authorization or similar mechanism with an explicit case of a final "/admin" path element, or is using a negative assertion with final path element of "/admin". The client sends request to "/app1/admin#foo". In Envoy prior to 1.18.0, or 1.18.0+ configured with path_normalization=false. Envoy treats fragment as a suffix of the query string when present, or as a suffix of the path when query string is absent, so it evaluates the final path element as "/admin#foo" and mismatches with the configured "/admin" path element. In Envoy 1.18.0+ configured with path_normalization=true. Envoy transforms this to /app1/admin%23foo and mismatches with the configured /admin prefix. The resulting URI is sent to the next server-agent with the offending "#foo" fragment which violates RFC3986 or with the nonsensical "%23foo" text appended. A specifically constructed request with URI containing '#fragment' element delivered by an untrusted client in the presence of path based request authorization resulting in escalation of Privileges when path based request authorization extensions. Envoy versions 1.19.1, 1.18.4, 1.17.4, 1.16.5 contain fixes that removes fragment from URI path in incoming requests.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00956 61st percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed envoy (envoyproxy): 1.19.1, 1.18.4, 1.17.4 +1Red Hat: 2 advisories

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
envoyproxyenvoy1.19.0 to before 1.19.1; 1.18.0 to before 1.18.4; 1.17.0 to before 1.17.4; 1.16.0 to before 1.16.51.19.1, 1.18.4, 1.17.4, 1.16.5Patch availableCNA
  • envoy Vendorenvoyproxy Affected 1.19.0 to before 1.19.1; 1.18.0 to before 1.18.4; 1.17.0 to before 1.17.4; 1.16.0 to before 1.16.5 Fixed in 1.19.1, 1.18.4, 1.17.4, 1.16.5 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 2

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*1.16.0 to before 1.16.5; 1.17.0 to before 1.17.4; 1.18.0 to before 1.18.4Vulnerableenvoyproxy
cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:1.19.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*1.19.0Vulnerableenvoyproxy
  • cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 1.16.0 to before 1.16.5; 1.17.0 to before 1.17.4; 1.18.0 to before 1.18.4 Vulnerable ·envoyproxy
  • cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:1.19.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 1.19.0 Vulnerable ·envoyproxy

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA envoy (envoyproxy) Fixed in 1.19.1, 1.18.4, 1.17.4, 1.16.5

Red Hat 2 advisories

  • RHSA-2021:3272 Released 2021-08-25 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0.7.1 security update
    • OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0 servicemesh-2.0.7-3.el8, servicemesh-istioctl-2.0.7-3.el8, servicemesh-mixc-2.0.7-3.el8 +4
  • RHSA-2021:3273 Released 2021-08-25 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 1.1.17.1 security update
    • OpenShift Service Mesh 1.1 servicemesh-1.1.17-3.el8, servicemesh-citadel-1.1.17-3.el8, servicemesh-galley-1.1.17-3.el8 +7

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
OpenShift Service Mesh 1.1Fixed RHSA-2021:3273
OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0Fixed RHSA-2021:3272
Not affected: 2 products
  • OpenShift Service Mesh 1.1
  • OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-32779

References

  • TI-2026-79288 Out-of-bounds write in Google Brotli decoder KEVCVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.2
  • TI-2023-23979 The HTTP/2 protocol allows a denial of service (server resource consumption) because… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2024-20001 HTTP/2: CPU exhaustion due to CONTINUATION frame flood CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2024-18524 HTTP/2: memory exhaustion due to CONTINUATION frame flood CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2023-12215 Envoy client may fake the header `x-envoy-original-path` CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
  • TI-2023-18002 Envoy vulnerable to OAuth2 credentials exploit with permanent validity CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
See all 126 →

Sources