Vulnerability Database

383,296

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2021-21423 — projen_project / projen

Exposure of Version-Control Repository to an Unauthorized Control Sphere

projen is a project generation tool that synthesizes project configuration files such as package.json, tsconfig.json, .gitignore, GitHub Workflows, eslint, jest, and more, from a well-typed definition written in JavaScript. Users of projen's NodeProject project type (including any project type derived from it) include a .github/workflows/rebuild-bot.yml workflow that may allow any GitHub user to trigger execution of un-trusted code in the context of the "main" repository (as opposed to that of a fork). In some situations, such untrusted code may potentially be able to commit to the "main" repository. The rebuild-bot workflow is triggered by comments including @projen rebuild on pull-request to trigger a re-build of the projen project, and updating the pull request with the updated files. This workflow is triggered by an issue_comment event, and thus always executes with a GITHUB_TOKEN belonging to the repository into which the pull-request is made (this is in contrast with workflows triggered by pull_request events, which always execute with a GITHUB_TOKEN belonging to the repository from which the pull-request is made). Repositories that do not have branch protection configured on their default branch (typically main or master) could possibly allow an untrusted user to gain access to secrets configured on the repository (such as NPM tokens, etc). Branch protection prohibits this escalation, as the managed GITHUB_TOKEN would not be able to modify the contents of a protected branch and affected workflows must be defined on the default branch.

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Medium
  • Score: 6.8
  • AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

CVSS v2:

  • Severity: Medium
  • Score: 5.5
  • AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:N

CWEs:

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.