CVE-2021-32779

Incorrectly handling of URI '#fragment' element as part of the path element

HIGH
8.3
CVSS Score
Published: August 24, 2021 at 08:45 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 03:53 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorEnvoy

Using envoy by envoyproxy?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect envoy - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available
Severity
HIGH8.3
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.9%

Description

Envoy is an open source L7 proxy and communication bus designed for large modern service oriented architectures. In affected versions envoy incorrectly handled a URI '#fragment' element as part of the path element. Envoy is configured with an RBAC filter for authorization or similar mechanism with an explicit case of a final "/admin" path element, or is using a negative assertion with final path element of "/admin". The client sends request to "/app1/admin#foo". In Envoy prior to 1.18.0, or 1.18.0+ configured with path_normalization=false. Envoy treats fragment as a suffix of the query string when present, or as a suffix of the path when query string is absent, so it evaluates the final path element as "/admin#foo" and mismatches with the configured "/admin" path element. In Envoy 1.18.0+ configured with path_normalization=true. Envoy transforms this to /app1/admin%23foo and mismatches with the configured /admin prefix. The resulting URI is sent to the next server-agent with the offending "#foo" fragment which violates RFC3986 or with the nonsensical "%23foo" text appended. A specifically constructed request with URI containing '#fragment' element delivered by an untrusted client in the presence of path based request authorization resulting in escalation of Privileges when path based request authorization extensions. Envoy versions 1.19.1, 1.18.4, 1.17.4, 1.16.5 contain fixes that removes fragment from URI path in incoming requests.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 1.16.5v < 1.17.4v < 1.18.4v < 1.19.11.16.0 ≤ v < 1.16.51.17.0 ≤ v < 1.17.41.18.0 ≤ v < 1.18.41.19.0
Affected range stops below 1.16.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 1.17.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 1.18.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 1.19.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

CVSS

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
LOW
Integrity
LOW
Availability
LOW
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-551CWE-863CWE-697

Get alerted

Stop reading CVE feeds looking for your own stack

Track the products you run and VulnTracker tells you when a new CVE affects them — with what is known about fixing it, and nothing about the rest.

Free plan, no card