CVE-2021-41194 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2021-41194
Vulnerability Scoring

9.1
/10
Critical Risk

As a catastrophic security flaw, CVE-2021-41194 has severe implications, demanding immediate intervention.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Unchanged
    Exploit remains within the originally vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2021-41194 Details

Status: Modified

Last updated: 🕕 21 Nov 2024, 06:25 UTC
Originally published on: 🕗 28 Oct 2021, 20:15 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 1119 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

security-advisories@github.com

CVSS3 Type

Secondary

CVSS3 Vector

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

CVE-2021-41194 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2021-41194: FirstUseAuthenticator is a JupyterHub authenticator that helps new users set their password on their first login to JupyterHub. When JupyterHub is used with FirstUseAuthenticator, a vulnerability in versions prior to 1.0.0 allows unauthorized access to any user's account if `create_users=True` and the username is known or guessed. One may upgrade to version 1.0.0 or apply a patch manually to mitigate the vulnerability. For those who cannot upgrade, there is no complete workaround, but a partial mitigation exists. One can disable user creation with `c.FirstUseAuthenticator.create_users = False`, which will only allow login with fully normalized usernames for already existing users prior to jupyterhub-firstuserauthenticator 1.0.0. If any users have never logged in with their normalized username (i.e. lowercase), they will still be vulnerable until a patch or upgrade occurs.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2021-41194

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2021-41194 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2021-41194

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2021-41194 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2021-41194, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2021-41194, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2021-41194 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: High
    CVE-2021-41194 could allow unauthorized modifications to data, potentially affecting system reliability and trust.
  • Availability: None
    CVE-2021-41194 does not impact system availability.

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 0.301% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 69.78% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 30.22% of others.

CVE-2021-41194 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

NVD-CWE-noinfo

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