CVE-2021-44227: Mailman Cross Site Request Forgery Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-xq58-69h2-765m
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CVSS 8.8
CWE-352
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-44227 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.8) cross site request forgery vulnerability (CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)) affecting Mailman libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves cross site request forgery in mailman. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.1.38.

CVE-2021-44227 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-44227
GHSA Identifier GHSA-xq58-69h2-765m
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.8
CWE Classification CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
Affected Product Mailman
Package Ecosystem PyPI
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:N/UI:R/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 Required (UI:R)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2021-44227

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

mailman fixed: 2.1.38 
pip install mailman>=2.1.38
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 mailman

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2021-44227, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show mailman

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Mailman in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.1.38), your application is affected.

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

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), where the web application does not, or cannot, sufficiently verify whether a request was intentionally provided by the user who sent the request, which could have originated from an unauthorized actor. In Mailman, 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

In GNU Mailman before 2.1.38, a list member or moderator can get a CSRF token and craft an admin request (using that token) to set a new admin password or make other changes.

CVE-2021-44227 Affected Mailman Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.1.38
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
mailman
pypi/mailman
PyPI
< 2.1.38
2.1.38

References

NVD — CVE-2021-44227 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-44227
bugs.launchpad.net/mailman/+bug/195238... WEB
https://bugs.launchpad.net/mailman/+bug/1952384
gitlab.com/mailman/mailman PACKAGE
https://gitlab.com/mailman/mailman
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/06/msg00011.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-44227?
CVE-2021-44227 is a security vulnerability in Mailman involving Cross Site Request Forgery in mailman under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF).
Which Mailman versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.1.38 across affected packages: mailman.
What version fixes CVE-2021-44227?
Upgrading to 2.1.38 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is mailman affected?
Yes, mailman is affected in releases prior to 2.1.38. Upgrade your dependency to 2.1.38 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-44227?
CVE-2021-44227 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-44227?
CVE-2021-44227 is classified under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) (The web application does not, or cannot, sufficiently verify whether a request was intentionally provided by the user who sent the request, which could have originated from an unauthorized actor.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2021-44227?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show mailman'. 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-xq58-69h2-765m",
  "modified" : "2021-12-06T21:52:30Z",
  "published" : "2021-12-16T15:27:06Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-44227" ],
  "summary" : "Cross Site Request Forgery in mailman",
  "details" : "In GNU Mailman before 2.1.38, a list member or moderator can get a CSRF token and craft an admin request (using that token) to set a new admin password or make other changes.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "mailman"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.1.38"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-44227"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugs.launchpad.net/mailman/+bug/1952384"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://gitlab.com/mailman/mailman"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/06/msg00011.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-352" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-12-06T21:52:30Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-12-02T03:15:00Z"
  }
}