CVE-2021-21698 — subversion
HIGHCVE-2021-21698 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in org.jenkins-ci.plugins:subversion. A fix is available for org.jenkins-ci.plugins:subversion — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Path traversal vulnerability in Jenkins Subversion Plugin allows reading arbitrary files
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-2021-21698 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 377,166 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:subversionReal-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
Jenkins Subversion Plugin 2.15.0 and earlier does not restrict the name of a file when looking up a subversion key file on the controller from an agent.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.jenkins-ci.plugins:subversion | all versions | 2.15.1org.jenkins-ci.plugins:subversion:2.15.1 |
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:subversion, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.jenkins-ci.plugins:subversion to 2.15.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-21698 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-2021-21698 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2021-21698. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.11 | jenkins-2-plugins-0:3.11.1637699107-1.el7 | RHSA-2021:4827 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.10 | jenkins-2-plugins-0:4.10.1643404185-1.el8 | RHSA-2022:0055 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.6 | jenkins-2-plugins-0:4.6.1637602169-1.el8 | RHSA-2021:4799 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.7 | jenkins-2-plugins-0:4.7.1637600997-1.el8 | RHSA-2021:4801 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.8 | jenkins-2-plugins-0:4.8.1637599935-1.el8 | RHSA-2021:4829 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.9 | jenkins-2-plugins-0:4.9.1637598812-1.el8 | RHSA-2021:4833 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-21698 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2021-21698 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.