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NVD / CVE Program· CNA Mend

CVE-2021-25973: Publify - Improper Authorization Leads to Guest Signup Restriction Bypass

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 26/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.82% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 57.3% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • Fixed version: publify_core (RubyGems) 9.2.5.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to publify_core (RubyGems) 9.2.5 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

In Publify, 9.0.0.pre1 to 9.2.4 are vulnerable to Improper Access Control. “guest” role users can self-register even when the admin does not allow. This happens due to front-end restriction only.

MediumCVSS 6.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Nov 2, 2021
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.8% · 57th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

26

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
26 / 40 · 6.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.8%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
proof of concept
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
6.5
CNA · Mend
6.5
agree

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2021-25973

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
publify projectpublify

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • publify project publify9.0.0 and later · up to 9.2.4 inclusive

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Mend). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • publify_core publify_core

    • 9.0.0.pre1 and later · before unspecifiedaffected
    • unspecified and later · up to and including 9.2.4affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
RubyGemspublify_corefrom 9.0.0.pre1 · before 9.2.59.2.5

Same product

publify project: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2022-1812Integer Overflow or Wraparound in publify/publify
    48Plan
  • CVE-2023-0299Improper Input Validation in publify/publify
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2022-0524Business Logic Errors in publify/publify
    30Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • Later →CVE-2021-25974Nov 10, 2021 · Publify - Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) in Editor
    21Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2021-25975Nov 10, 2021 · Publify - Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) due to Unrestricted File Upload
    21Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2022-0574May 16, 2022 · Improper Access Control in publify/publify
    26Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
RubyGems:publify_core9.2.5Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
low · data can be read
Integrity
low · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
none
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
Low
Integrity impact
Low
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-285 · Improper Authorization

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records