SummaryAI-written · claude-haiku-5-5AI-written · claude-haiku-5-5Written by a language model from the source data on this page. Not reviewed by a person. Generated 29 Oct 2026.
Microsoft Exchange Server contains a remote code execution vulnerability classified as Server-Side Request Forgery (CWE), which lies in the server's handling of request processing. An unauthenticated attacker with network access to the Exchange Server can exploit it without any user interaction or non-default configuration, potentially gaining high confidentiality and integrity impact on the affected system.
Heading is the official description · NVDSource dataSource dataCopied from an authoritative feed: NVD, CVE.org, CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS or MITRE CTID mappings, or labelled by the annotators of a published dataset. Copied from NVD.
Priority scorePatchfirst’s 0 to 100 ranking. It adds points for CISA KEV listing, ransomware use, EPSS, threat reports, public exploit code and CVSS. Every CVE page shows the breakdown.Breakdown
89.4 / 100
Exploited
Yes, in CISA KEV
Reports
9
Tactics
6/15
How an attack unfolds
Based on MITRE ATT&CKA public catalogue of the techniques attackers use, maintained by MITRE. Patchfirst uses it to describe what attackers do with a vulnerability. mappings. Select a step to see the evidence.
Exploitation timelineDated milestones for a CVE: when it was disclosed, when exploit code became public, when exploitation was confirmed, and when threat reports named it.
First seen exploited 47 days after disclosure. Public exploit code (Metasploit) was available 3 months before disclosure.
CISA KEV listing is when exploitation was confirmed, not necessarily the first attack.
MITRE ATT&CKA public catalogue of the techniques attackers use, maintained by MITRE. Patchfirst uses it to describe what attackers do with a vulnerability. techniques
5 TechniqueOne specific attacker behaviour in MITRE ATT&CK, such as T1190 “Exploit Public-Facing Application”. IDs with a dot, like T1059.004, are sub-techniques., grouped by TacticThe attacker’s goal at a stage of an attack in MITRE ATT&CK, such as Initial Access or Persistence. Each technique belongs to one or more tactics. in kill-chain order, 3 cited passagesSourceSource dataCopied from an authoritative feed: NVD, CVE.org, CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS or MITRE CTID mappings, or labelled by the annotators of a published dataset.5
Initial AccessTA0001
Exploit Public-Facing ApplicationT1190Medium Confidence (technique links)How sure Patchfirst is that an ATT&CK technique applies to this CVE. High and medium links are shown by default; low ones come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict the CVE’s details.
Source dataSource dataCopied from an authoritative feed: NVD, CVE.org, CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS or MITRE CTID mappings, or labelled by the annotators of a published dataset. CTID Mappings Explorer KEV 07/28/2025 (ATT&CK 16.1); capability: Code Execution; ATT&CK ID T1190 introduces a list containing CVE-2021-34473; ATT&CK ID T1190 written in the same sentence as CVE-2021-34473; keyword query KW:T1190:2.MITRE CTID mapping of the KEV entry · how it is exploited
This is a remote code execution vulnerability that is often chained with CVE-2021-34523, a privilege escalation vulnerability.
distributing phishing emails with malicious attachments [T1566.001] and by exploiting the following vulnerabilities against Microsoft Exchange servers [T1190]: CVE-2021-31207 - Microsoft Exchange Server Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability CVE-2021-34473 - Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Code Execution
BlackByte ransomware threat actors exploit ProxyShell vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-34473, CVE-2021-34523, CVE-2021-31207) found in Microsoft Exchange Server to gain initial access to the target network.
Tactic;Technique;Description TA0001 Initial Access;T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application;In a number of attacks, the threat actors used ProxyShell vulnerablilities (CVE-2021-34473, CVE-2021-34523, CVE-2021-31207).
Scheduled TaskT1053.005Medium Confidence (technique links)How sure Patchfirst is that an ATT&CK technique applies to this CVE. High and medium links are shown by default; low ones come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict the CVE’s details.also Persistence, Privilege Escalation
Source dataSource dataCopied from an authoritative feed: NVD, CVE.org, CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS or MITRE CTID mappings, or labelled by the annotators of a published dataset. CTID Mappings Explorer KEV 07/28/2025 (ATT&CK 16.1); capability: Code Execution.MITRE CTID mapping of the KEV entry · primary impact
CVE-2021-34473 is a part of the ProxyShell vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange and CVE-2021-34473 is a code execution vulnerability that requires no user action or privileges to exploit.
PersistenceTA0003
Create AccountT1136Medium Confidence (technique links)How sure Patchfirst is that an ATT&CK technique applies to this CVE. High and medium links are shown by default; low ones come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict the CVE’s details.
Source dataSource dataCopied from an authoritative feed: NVD, CVE.org, CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS or MITRE CTID mappings, or labelled by the annotators of a published dataset. CTID Mappings Explorer KEV 07/28/2025 (ATT&CK 16.1); capability: Code Execution.MITRE CTID mapping of the KEV entry · follow-on activity
ExfiltrationTA0010
Exfiltration Over Unencrypted Non-C2 ProtocolT1048.003Medium Confidence (technique links)How sure Patchfirst is that an ATT&CK technique applies to this CVE. High and medium links are shown by default; low ones come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict the CVE’s details.
Source dataSource dataCopied from an authoritative feed: NVD, CVE.org, CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS or MITRE CTID mappings, or labelled by the annotators of a published dataset. CTID Mappings Explorer KEV 07/28/2025 (ATT&CK 16.1); capability: Code Execution.MITRE CTID mapping of the KEV entry · follow-on activity
ImpactTA0040
Data Encrypted for ImpactT1486Medium Confidence (technique links)How sure Patchfirst is that an ATT&CK technique applies to this CVE. High and medium links are shown by default; low ones come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict the CVE’s details.
Source dataSource dataCopied from an authoritative feed: NVD, CVE.org, CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS or MITRE CTID mappings, or labelled by the annotators of a published dataset. CTID Mappings Explorer KEV 07/28/2025 (ATT&CK 16.1); capability: Code Execution.MITRE CTID mapping of the KEV entry · follow-on activity
Detection
0 rules for this CVE · 230 general rules for its techniques
Rules for this CVE
0Sigma ruleAn open, vendor-neutral detection rule for log data. Security teams convert Sigma rules into searches for their own SIEM. that reference CVE-2021-34473 directly.
CVE-specific rules are not available in this build. Search SigmaHQ ↗
General rules for this CVE’s techniques
These detect the technique in general, not this specific vulnerability.
Named in 9 threat reportsMachineMachine-matchedFound by keyword or pattern matching over threat-report text. Not reviewed by a person. Exact CVE id found in the report text.
Reports are matched by finding the exact id CVE-2021-34473 in their text; nobody has reviewed the match. One passage is shown per report, at most 320 characters, linked to the original.
To obtain initial access into the victim’s environment, the threat actor was observed exploiting the ProxyShell vulnerabilities CVE-2021-34473, CVE-2021-34523, and CVE-2021-31207 on unpatched Microsoft Exchange Servers.
Tactic;Technique;Description TA0001 Initial Access;T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application;In a number of attacks, the threat actors used ProxyShell vulnerablilities (CVE-2021-34473, CVE-2021-34523, CVE-2021-31207).
BlackByte ransomware threat actors exploit ProxyShell vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-34473, CVE-2021-34523, CVE-2021-31207) found in Microsoft Exchange Server to gain initial access to the target network.
In recent BlackByte attacks investigated by Symantec, the attackers exploited the ProxyShell (CVE-2021-34473, CVE-2021-34523, and CVE-2021-31207) and ProxyLogon (CVE-2021-26855 and CVE-2021-27065) vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Servers to gain initial access.
…distributing phishing emails with malicious attachments [T1566.001] and by exploiting the following vulnerabilities against Microsoft Exchange servers [T1190]: CVE-2021-31207 - Microsoft Exchange Server Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability CVE-2021-34473 - Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Code Execution…
Vulnerabilities such as ProxyShell (CVE-2021-34473) and improper SQL sanitization (CVE-2021-20028) have been observed being utilized as footholds into the environment.