CVE-2021-25979: Apostrophe Apostrophe CMS Insufficient Session Expiration Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-9j9m-8wjc-ff96
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-613
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-25979 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) apostrophe cms insufficient session expiration vulnerability (CWE-613: Insufficient Session Expiration) affecting Apostrophe libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves apostrophe cms insufficient session expiration vulnerability. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3.4.0.

CVE-2021-25979 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-25979
GHSA Identifier GHSA-9j9m-8wjc-ff96
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-613: Insufficient Session Expiration
Affected Product Apostrophe
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2021-25979

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Apostrophe dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

apostrophe fixed: 3.4.0 
npm install apostrophe@3.4.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

npm ls apostrophe

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2021-25979, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls apostrophe

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Apostrophe in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 3.4.0), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls apostrophe command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-613: Insufficient Session Expiration, where according to wasc, "insufficient session expiration is when a web site permits an attacker to reuse old session credentials or session ids for authorization.". In Apostrophe, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Apostrophe CMS versions between 2.63.0 to 3.3.1 affected by an insufficient session expiration vulnerability, which allows unauthenticated remote attackers to hijack recently logged-in users' sessions. As a mitigation for older releases the user account in question can be archived (3.x) or moved to the trash (2.x and earlier) which does disable the existing session.

CVE-2021-25979 Affected Apostrophe Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3.4.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
apostrophe
npm/apostrophe
npm
≥ 2.63.0
< 3.4.0
3.4.0

References

NVD — CVE-2021-25979 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-25979
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe/commit/c211b211f9f4303a77a307cf41aac9b4ef8d2c7c
Apostrophe Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-25979?
CVE-2021-25979 is a security vulnerability in Apostrophe involving Apostrophe CMS Insufficient Session Expiration vulnerability under CWE-613: Insufficient Session Expiration.
Which Apostrophe versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3.4.0 across affected packages: apostrophe.
What version fixes CVE-2021-25979?
Upgrading to 3.4.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is apostrophe affected?
Yes, apostrophe is affected in releases prior to 3.4.0. Upgrade your dependency to 3.4.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-25979?
CVE-2021-25979 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-25979?
CVE-2021-25979 is classified under CWE-613: Insufficient Session Expiration (According to WASC, "Insufficient Session Expiration is when a web site permits an attacker to reuse old session credentials or session IDs for authorization.").
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2021-25979?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls apostrophe'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-9j9m-8wjc-ff96",
  "modified" : "2022-08-22T22:01:24Z",
  "published" : "2021-11-10T17:02:44Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-25979" ],
  "summary" : " Apostrophe CMS Insufficient Session Expiration vulnerability",
  "details" : "Apostrophe CMS versions between 2.63.0 to 3.3.1 affected by an insufficient session expiration vulnerability, which allows unauthenticated remote attackers to hijack recently logged-in users' sessions. As a mitigation for older releases the user account in question can be archived (3.x) or moved to the trash (2.x and earlier) which does disable the existing session.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "apostrophe"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.63.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.4.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-25979"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe/commit/c211b211f9f4303a77a307cf41aac9b4ef8d2c7c"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apostrophecms/apostrophe"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-613" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-11-09T21:01:19Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-11-08T15:15:00Z"
  }
}