CVE-2021-3980: Elgg/elgg Information Exposure Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-hx6g-q9v2-xh7v
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-359
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-3980 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) information exposure vulnerability (CWE-359: Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor) affecting Elgg/elgg libraries in the Packagist ecosystem. The issue involves information exposure in elgg. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3.3.23, 4.0.5.

CVE-2021-3980 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-3980
GHSA Identifier GHSA-hx6g-q9v2-xh7v
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-359: Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor
Affected Product Elgg/elgg
Package Ecosystem Packagist
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-2021-3980

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

elgg/elgg fixed: 3.3.23 
Upgrade elgg/elgg to 3.3.23
elgg/elgg fixed: 4.0.5 
Upgrade elgg/elgg to 4.0.5
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

inspect dependencies for elgg/elgg

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2021-3980, inspect your project dependencies for Elgg/elgg:

inspect dependencies for elgg/elgg

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Elgg/elgg in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 3.3.23), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-359: Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor, where the product does not properly prevent a person's private, personal information from being accessed by actors who either (1) are not explicitly authorized to access the information or (2) do not have the implicit consent of the person about whom the information is collected. In Elgg/elgg, 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

elgg is vulnerable to Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor. Forms in the view namespace 'forms/admin' were not protected by an AdminGatekeeper in case of AJAX requests to 'ajax/form/admin/'.

CVE-2021-3980 Affected Elgg/elgg Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3.3.234.0.5
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
elgg/elgg
 Packagist
< 3.3.23
3.3.23
elgg/elgg
 Packagist
≥ 4.0.0
< 4.0.5
4.0.5

References

NVD — CVE-2021-3980 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3980
Elgg/elgg Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/Elgg/Elgg/pull/13791
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/elgg/elgg/commit/572d210e2392f1fdf47ff2f38665372a6535c126
Elgg/elgg Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/Elgg/Elgg
huntr.dev/bounties/1f43f11e-4... WEB
https://huntr.dev/bounties/1f43f11e-4bd8-451f-a244-dc9541cdc0ac

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-3980?
CVE-2021-3980 is a security vulnerability in Elgg/elgg involving Information exposure in elgg under CWE-359: Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor.
Which Elgg/elgg versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3.3.23, 4.0.5 across affected packages: elgg/elgg.
What version fixes CVE-2021-3980?
Upgrading to 3.3.23, 4.0.5 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is elgg/elgg affected?
Yes, elgg/elgg is affected in releases prior to 3.3.23, 4.0.5. Upgrade your dependency to 3.3.23, 4.0.5 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-3980?
CVE-2021-3980 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-2021-3980?
CVE-2021-3980 is classified under CWE-359: Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor (The product does not properly prevent a person's private, personal information from being accessed by actors who either (1) are not explicitly authorized to access the information or (2) do not have the implicit consent of the person about whom the information is collected.).
How can I check Packagist dependencies for CVE-2021-3980?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for elgg/elgg'. 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-hx6g-q9v2-xh7v",
  "modified" : "2021-12-06T22:01:08Z",
  "published" : "2021-12-16T15:30:48Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-3980" ],
  "summary" : "Information exposure in elgg",
  "details" : "elgg is vulnerable to Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor. Forms in the view namespace 'forms/admin' were not protected by an AdminGatekeeper in case of AJAX requests to 'ajax/form/admin/'.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "elgg/elgg"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.3.23"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "elgg/elgg"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "4.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.0.5"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3980"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Elgg/Elgg/pull/13791"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/elgg/elgg/commit/572d210e2392f1fdf47ff2f38665372a6535c126"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Elgg/Elgg"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://huntr.dev/bounties/1f43f11e-4bd8-451f-a244-dc9541cdc0ac"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-359" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-12-06T22:01:08Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-12-03T15:15:00Z"
  }
}