CVE-2021-43576 — pom2config
MEDIUMCVE-2021-43576 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in org.jenkins-ci.plugins:pom2config. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
XXE vulnerability in Jenkins pom2config Plugin
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-2021-43576 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:pom2configReal-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 pom2config Plugin 1.2 and earlier does not configure its XML parser to prevent XML external entity (XXE) attacks.
This allows attackers with Overall/Read and Item/Read permissions to have Jenkins parse a crafted XML file that uses external entities for extraction of secrets from the Jenkins controller or server-side request forgery.
As of publication of this advisory, there is no fix.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.jenkins-ci.plugins:pom2config | all versions | No fix |
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:pom2config, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of org.jenkins-ci.plugins:pom2config has shipped for CVE-2021-43576 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
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-2021-43576 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2021-43576. 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-2021-43576 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2021-43576 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.