CVE-2021-21624 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.3) CWE-863 vulnerability in org.jenkins-ci.plugins:role-strategy. A fix is available for org.jenkins-ci.plugins:role-strategy — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Incorrect permission checks in Jenkins Role-based Authorization Strategy Plugin may allow accessing some items
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-21624 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,567 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.jenkins-ci.plugins:role-strategyReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Items (like jobs) can be organized hierarchically in Jenkins, using the Folders Plugin or something similar. An item is expected to be accessible only if all its ancestors are accessible as well.
Role-based Authorization Strategy Plugin 3.1 and earlier does not correctly perform permission checks to determine whether an item should be accessible.
This allows attackers with Item/Read permission on nested items to access them, even if they lack Item/Read permission for parent folders.
Role-based Authorization Strategy Plugin 3.1.1 requires Item/Read permission on parent items to grant Item/Read permission on an individual item.
As a workaround in older releases, do not grant permissions on individual items to users who do not have access to parent items.
In case of problems, the Java system property com.michelin.cio.hudson.plugins.rolestrategy.RoleMap.checkParentPermissions can be set to false, completely disabling this fix.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.jenkins-ci.plugins:role-strategy | all versions | 3.1.1org.jenkins-ci.plugins:role-strategy:3.1.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.jenkins-ci.plugins:role-strategy, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.jenkins-ci.plugins:role-strategy to 3.1.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-21624 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2021-21624 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2021-21624. 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-2021-21624 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2021-21624 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.