CVE-2021-21273 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) vulnerability in matrix-synapse. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2021-21273 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Open redirects on some federation and push requests
Real-World Exposure
matrix-synapseReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Synapse is a Matrix reference homeserver written in python (pypi package matrix-synapse). Matrix is an ecosystem for open federated Instant Messaging and VoIP. In Synapse before version 1.25.0, requests to user provided domains were not restricted to external IP addresses when calculating the key validity for third-party invite events and sending push notifications. This could cause Synapse to make requests to internal infrastructure. The type of request was not controlled by the user, although limited modification of request bodies was possible. For the most thorough protection server administrators should remove the deprecated federation_ip_range_blacklist from their settings after upgrading to Synapse v1.25.0 which will result in Synapse using the improved default IP address restrictions. See the new ip_range_blacklist and ip_range_whitelist settings if more specific control is necessary.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | matrix-synapse | all versions | 1.25.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for matrix-synapse. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update matrix-synapse to 1.25.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-21273 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2021-21273 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2021-21273. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-21273 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2021-21273 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.