CVE-2021-27591 – CVE-2021-27591 is a denial-of-service vulnerabi... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2021-27591?

CVE-2021-27591 has a CVSS score of 7.8 (HIGH). CVE-2021-27591 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer version 9. When users open specially crafted PDF files, the application crashes and becomes unavailable until restarted. This affects all users of the vulnerable software version.

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2021-27591 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer version 9. When users open specially crafted PDF files, the application crashes and becomes unavailable until restarted. This affects all users of the vulnerable software version.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer

Versions: Version 9

Operating Systems: Windows, Linux

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All installations of version 9 are vulnerable regardless of configuration.

📦 What is this software?

3d Visual Enterprise Viewer by Sap

View all CVEs affecting 3d Visual Enterprise Viewer →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete application unavailability requiring restart, potentially disrupting business workflows that rely on 3D visualization.

🟠

Likely Case

Temporary application crashes when users open malicious PDFs, causing productivity loss until application restart.

🟢

If Mitigated

Minimal impact with proper user training and file validation controls in place.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM - Requires user interaction with malicious files, but PDFs are commonly shared externally.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal users could be targeted via email attachments or shared drives.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires user interaction to open malicious PDF file. No authentication bypass needed beyond convincing user to open file.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Apply SAP Security Note 3027758

Vendor Advisory: https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/3027758

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Download SAP Security Note 3027758 from SAP Support Portal
2. Apply the patch according to SAP documentation
3. Restart SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Restrict PDF file handling

all

Configure application to not open PDF files or use alternative PDF viewers

User awareness training

all

Train users to only open PDF files from trusted sources

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer
Deploy endpoint protection that blocks malicious PDF files

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check if SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer version 9 is installed without Security Note 3027758 applied

Check Version:

Check application about dialog or consult SAP system documentation

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify Security Note 3027758 is applied in SAP system or check application version is updated

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Application crash logs
Unexpected termination events
Error messages related to PDF parsing

Network Indicators:

PDF file downloads followed by application crashes

SIEM Query:

EventID: 1000 OR EventID: 1001 AND ProcessName: "SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer" AND FileExtension: .pdf

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2021-27591

CVSS v3 Score: 7.8 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Published: March 9, 2021

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/3027758 Vendor Advisory
https://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=571343107 Vendor Advisory
https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-21-298/ Third Party Advisory,VDB Entry
https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/3027758 Vendor Advisory
https://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=571343107 Vendor Advisory
https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-21-298/ Third Party Advisory,VDB Entry

📤 Share & Export

📄 Export Markdown 📋 Export JSON