Denial of service (via resource exhaustion) due to improper input validation on groups/communities endpoints

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS 4.0

6.0 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source

EPSS

• CVE-2021-21393: 1.60% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 75.77 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact Missing input validation of some parameters on the groups (also known as communities) endpoints could cause excessive use of disk space and memory leading to resource exhaustion. Additionally clients may have issues rendering large fields. Patches This issue is fixed by #9321 and #9393. Workarounds The groups feature can be disabled (by setting enablegroupcreation to False) to mitigate this issue. Note that it is disabled by default. Other information Note that the groups feature is not part of the Matrix specification and the chosen maximum lengths are arbitrary. Not all clients might abide by them.

Published by the source

13 Apr 2021, 15:12 UTC

Last modified by the source

8 Jul 2026, 06:28 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 13:21 UTC

1. Revision 3 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-jrh7-mhhx-6h88

2. Revision 2 · amended · 25 Oct 2026

   Reviewed OSV alias/range/CVSS4 correction; package source scopes and original publication preserved. No customer finding resolved.

3. Revision 1 · created · 24 Oct 2026

   Published from osv record GHSA-jrh7-mhhx-6h88

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2021-21393

Advisory: Denial of service (via resource exhaustion) due to improper input validation on groups/communities endpoints
IDs: CVE-2021-21393, GHSA-jrh7-mhhx-6h88
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2021-21393 (revision 3, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:21 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 6.0)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: matrix-synapse 1.28.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI matrix-synapse: affected < 1.28.0; fixed in 1.28.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show matrix-synapse`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on matrix-synapse.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-jrh7-mhhx-6h88 (OSV record GHSA-jrh7-mhhx-6h88 lists affected ranges: PyPI matrix-synapse >=0 <1.28.0 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-jrh7-mhhx-6h88 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-jrh7-mhhx-6h88 lists affected ranges: PyPI matrix-synapse >=0 <1.28.0)

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