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CVE-2021-43833


eLabFTW is an electronic lab notebook manager for research teams. In versions prior to 4.2.0 there is a vulnerability which allows any authenticated user to gain access to arbitrary accounts by setting a specially crafted email address. This vulnerability impacts all instances that have not set an explicit email domain name allowlist. Note that whereas neither administrators nor targeted users are notified of a change, an attacker will need to control an account. The default settings require administrators to validate newly created accounts. The problem has been patched. Users should upgrade to at least version 4.2.0. For users unable to upgrade enabling an email domain allow list (from Sysconfig panel, Security tab) will completely resolve the issue.


Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.1, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from elabftw organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2021, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.


Published

2021-12-16T00:15:07.447

Last Modified

2024-11-21T06:29:53.487

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 8.1 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P

  • Access Vector: NETWORK
  • Access Complexity: LOW
  • Authentication: SINGLE
  • Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
  • Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
  • Availability Impact: PARTIAL
Exploitability Score

8.0

Impact Score

6.4

Weaknesses
  • Type: Secondary
    CWE-287

Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Application elabftw elabftw < 4.2.0 Yes

References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For elabftw's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.