CVE-2021-22966: Concrete5/core Improper Privilege Management Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-j4mv-2rv7-v2j9
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CVSS 8.8
CWE-269
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-22966 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.8) improper privilege management vulnerability (CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management) affecting Concrete5/core libraries in the Packagist ecosystem. The issue involves improper privilege management in concrete cms. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 8.5.7.

CVE-2021-22966 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-22966
GHSA Identifier GHSA-j4mv-2rv7-v2j9
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.8
CWE Classification CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
Affected Product Concrete5/core
Package Ecosystem Packagist
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.8

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

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
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-2021-22966

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Concrete5/core dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

concrete5/core fixed: 8.5.7 
Upgrade concrete5/core to 8.5.7
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 concrete5/core

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2021-22966, inspect your project dependencies for Concrete5/core:

inspect dependencies for concrete5/core

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Concrete5/core in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 8.5.7), 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-269: Improper Privilege Management, where the product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. In Concrete5/core, 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

Privilege escalation from Editor to Admin using Groups in Concrete CMS versions 8.5.6 and below. If a group is granted "view" permissions on the bulkupdate page, then users in that group can escalate to being an administrator with a specially crafted curl. Fixed by adding a check for group permissions before allowing a group to be moved.

CVE-2021-22966 Affected Concrete5/core Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
8.5.7
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
concrete5/core
 Packagist
< 8.5.7
8.5.7

References

NVD — CVE-2021-22966 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22966
hackerone.com/reports/1362747 WEB
https://hackerone.com/reports/1362747
documentation.concretecms.org/developers/introduc... WEB
https://documentation.concretecms.org/developers/introduction/version-history/857-release-notes

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-22966?
CVE-2021-22966 is a security vulnerability in Concrete5/core involving Improper Privilege Management in Concrete CMS under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management.
Which Concrete5/core versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 8.5.7 across affected packages: concrete5/core.
What version fixes CVE-2021-22966?
Upgrading to 8.5.7 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is concrete5/core affected?
Yes, concrete5/core is affected in releases prior to 8.5.7. Upgrade your dependency to 8.5.7 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-22966?
CVE-2021-22966 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-22966?
CVE-2021-22966 is classified under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management (The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.).
How can I check Packagist dependencies for CVE-2021-22966?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for concrete5/core'. 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-j4mv-2rv7-v2j9",
  "modified" : "2022-07-13T19:06:19Z",
  "published" : "2021-11-23T18:18:07Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-22966" ],
  "summary" : "Improper Privilege Management in Concrete CMS ",
  "details" : "Privilege escalation from Editor to Admin using Groups in Concrete CMS versions 8.5.6 and below. If a group is granted \"view\" permissions on the bulkupdate page, then users in that group can escalate to being an administrator with a specially crafted curl. Fixed by adding a check for group permissions before allowing a group to be moved.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "concrete5/core"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "8.5.7"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22966"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://hackerone.com/reports/1362747"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://documentation.concretecms.org/developers/introduction/version-history/857-release-notes"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-269" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-11-22T18:31:34Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-11-19T19:15:00Z"
  }
}