CVE-2021-26117 : Vulnerability Insights and Analysis

ActiveMQ: LDAP-Authentication does not verify passwords on servers with anonymous bind is a vulnerability affecting Apache ActiveMQ. Below are the details of CVE-2021-26117.

Understanding CVE-2021-26117

This section provides an overview of the CVE-2021-26117 vulnerability.

What is CVE-2021-26117?

The optional ActiveMQ LDAP login module can be configured to use anonymous access to the LDAP server. Due to this misconfiguration, the anonymous context is used to verify a valid user's password in error, resulting in no check on the password for Apache ActiveMQ Artemis versions prior to 2.16.0 and Apache ActiveMQ versions prior to 5.16.1 and 5.15.14.

The Impact of CVE-2021-26117

The impact of this vulnerability is that passwords are not properly verified on servers with anonymous bind, potentially allowing unauthorized users to access the system.

Technical Details of CVE-2021-26117

In this section, we delve into the technical aspects of CVE-2021-26117.

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability arises from the misconfiguration of the ActiveMQ LDAP login module, which uses anonymous access to the LDAP server, leading to password verification errors.

Affected Systems and Versions

Vendor: Apache Software Foundation
Affected Products:
Apache ActiveMQ Artemis (less than 2.16.0)
Apache ActiveMQ (less than 5.16.1)
Unaffected Versions:
Apache ActiveMQ 5.15.14

Exploitation Mechanism

The exploitation of this vulnerability involves unauthorized users being able to bypass password authentication on affected systems.

Mitigation and Prevention

This section outlines steps to mitigate and prevent the CVE-2021-26117 vulnerability.

Immediate Steps to Take

Organizations should update Apache ActiveMQ Artemis to version 2.16.0 or later, and Apache ActiveMQ to version 5.16.1 to mitigate the vulnerability.

Long-Term Security Practices

Ensure proper configuration of LDAP login modules and avoid using anonymous access in conjunction with password verification.

Patching and Updates

Regularly apply security updates provided by Apache Software Foundation to address known vulnerabilities like CVE-2021-26117.