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No exploitation reportedFix available

CVE-2021-41171

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2021-10-22
  • Fixed in4.1.0
  • WeaknessCWE-307

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

eLabFTW is an open source electronic lab notebook manager for research teams. In versions of eLabFTW before 4.1.0, it allows attackers to bypass a brute-force protection mechanism by using many different forged PHPSESSID values in HTTP Cookie header. This issue has been addressed by implementing brute force login protection, as recommended by Owasp with Device Cookies. This mechanism will not impact users and will effectively thwart any brute-force attempts at guessing passwords. The only correct way to address this is to upgrade to version 4.1.0. Adding rate limitation upstream of the eLabFTW service is of course a valid option, with or without upgrading.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2021-10-2219:15CVE publishedNVD

Versions per branch

NVD
Elabftw
BranchAffectedFixed in
4.1< 4.1.04.1.0

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

  1. Update Elabftw to 4.1.0

Advisories and patches

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof of concept
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

Sources

  • CNACVSS 3.15.9known since 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 3.18.8read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 2.04read 2026-10-23
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-307known since 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score1.9 %2026-11-09

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2021-10-22
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-41171?

eLabFTW is an open source electronic lab notebook manager for research teams. In versions of eLabFTW before 4.1.0, it allows attackers to bypass a brute-force protection mechanism by using many different forged PHPSESSID values in HTTP Cookie header. This issue has been addressed by implementing brute force login protection, as recommended by Owasp with Device Cookies. This mechanism will not impact users and will effectively thwart any brute-force attempts at guessing passwords. The only correct way to address this is to upgrade to version 4.1.0. Adding rate limitation upstream of the eLabFTW service is of course a valid option, with or without upgrading.

Is CVE-2021-41171 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2021-41171 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 1.9% on 2026-11-09, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-41171?

CVE-2021-41171 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.8 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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