CVE-2021-33038: HyperKitty Exposure Of Sensitive Information To Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-h39g-q63v-4h9p
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-200
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-33038 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) exposure of sensitive information to vulnerability (CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) affecting HyperKitty libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor in hyperkitty. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.3.5.

CVE-2021-33038 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-33038
GHSA Identifier GHSA-h39g-q63v-4h9p
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
Affected Product HyperKitty
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

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:N/A:N).

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 None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2021-33038

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

HyperKitty fixed: 1.3.5 
pip install HyperKitty>=1.3.5
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

pip show HyperKitty

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2021-33038, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show HyperKitty

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of HyperKitty in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.3.5), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show HyperKitty command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor, where the product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. In HyperKitty, 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

An issue was discovered in management/commands/hyperkitty_import.py in HyperKitty prior to 1.3.5. When importing a private mailing list's archives, these archives are publicly visible for the duration of the import. For example, sensitive information might be available on the web for an hour during a large migration from Mailman 2 to Mailman 3.

CVE-2021-33038 Affected HyperKitty Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.3.5
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
HyperKitty
pypi/HyperKitty
PyPI
< 1.3.5
1.3.5

References

NVD — CVE-2021-33038 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-33038
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-h39g-q63v-4h9p
HyperKitty Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/hyperkitty/PYSEC-2021-77.yaml
gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty PACKAGE
https://gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty
gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty/... WEB
https://gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty/-/blob/master/doc/news.rst#L83-L87
gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty/... WEB
https://gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty/-/commit/9025324597d60b2dff740e49b70b15589d6804fa
gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty/... WEB
https://gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty/-/issues/380
techblog.wikimedia.org/2021/06/11/discover... WEB
https://techblog.wikimedia.org/2021/06/11/discovering-and-fixing-cve-2021-33038-in-mailman3
HyperKitty Security Information SECURITY
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4922

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-33038?
CVE-2021-33038 is a security vulnerability in HyperKitty involving Exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor in HyperKitty under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor.
Which HyperKitty versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.3.5 across affected packages: HyperKitty.
What version fixes CVE-2021-33038?
Upgrading to 1.3.5 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is HyperKitty affected?
Yes, HyperKitty is affected in releases prior to 1.3.5. Upgrade your dependency to 1.3.5 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-33038?
CVE-2021-33038 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-33038?
CVE-2021-33038 is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2021-33038?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show HyperKitty'. 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-h39g-q63v-4h9p",
  "modified" : "2024-09-23T16:25:28Z",
  "published" : "2021-06-01T21:56:23Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-33038" ],
  "summary" : "Exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor in HyperKitty",
  "details" : "An issue was discovered in management/commands/hyperkitty_import.py in HyperKitty prior to 1.3.5. When importing a private mailing list's archives, these archives are publicly visible for the duration of the import. For example, sensitive information might be available on the web for an hour during a large migration from Mailman 2 to Mailman 3.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "HyperKitty"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.3.5"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-33038"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-h39g-q63v-4h9p"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/hyperkitty/PYSEC-2021-77.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty/-/blob/master/doc/news.rst#L83-L87"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty/-/commit/9025324597d60b2dff740e49b70b15589d6804fa"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://gitlab.com/mailman/hyperkitty/-/issues/380"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://techblog.wikimedia.org/2021/06/11/discovering-and-fixing-cve-2021-33038-in-mailman3"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4922"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-200" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-06-01T20:13:23Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-05-26T14:15:00Z"
  }
}