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NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2021-32648: Account Takeover in Octobercms

CriticalCVSS 9.1 · v3.1KEVWeaponized Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Now (action score 93/100)

  • CISA has confirmed exploitation in the wild (Jan 18, 2022). Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Feb 1, 2022.
  • A ready-made attack module is public (Nuclei); exploiting it takes no special expertise.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 91.2% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 99.8% 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: october/system (Packagist) 1.1.5, 1.0.472.

Patch today or shut off access. Upgrade to october/system (Packagist) 1.1.5, 1.0.472 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 · CISA KEV · FIRST EPSS

octobercms in a CMS platform based on the Laravel PHP Framework. In affected versions of the october/system package an attacker can request an account password reset and then gain access to the account using a specially crafted request. The issue has been patched in Build 472 and v1.1.5.

Published
Aug 26, 2021
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
91.2% · 99th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

93

Now

Patch today or shut off access.

CVSS
36 / 40 · 9.1 / 10
CISA KEV
30 / 30 · Listed
EPSS
27 / 30 · 91.2%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
active
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
9.1
CNA · GitHub_M
8.2
0.9 point gap

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

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

Actively exploited in the wild

CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Jan 18, 2022. That signals real attacks, not theory.

Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Feb 1, 2022.

Get told when this record changes

  • In CISA KEV: exploitation in the wild confirmed
  • Weaponized exploit exists
  • A fix has been released

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

Follow CVE-2021-32648

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
octobercmsoctober

Versions reported by the vendor

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

  • octobercms october

    • >= 1.0.471, < 1.0.472, >= 1.1.1, < 1.1.5affected

Affected versions

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

  • octobercms october1.1.1 and later · before 1.1.5
  • octobercms october1.0.471

Package-level exposure

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

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Packagistoctober/systemfrom 1.1.1 · before 1.1.51.1.5
Packagistoctober/systembefore 1.0.4721.0.472

Same product

octobercms: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2017-1000119October CMS build 412 is vulnerable to PHP code execution in the file upload functionality resulting in site compromise and possibly other…
    46Plan
  • CVE-2021-3311An issue was discovered in October through build 471.
    40Plan
  • CVE-2017-1000196October CMS build 412 is vulnerable to PHP code execution in the asset manager functionality resulting in site compromise and possibly…
    40Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-21264May 3, 2021 · Bypass of fix for CVE-2020-26231, Twig sandbox escape
    20Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-29487Aug 26, 2021 · Authentication bypass in Octobercms
    29Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2021-41126Oct 6, 2021 · Deleted Admin Can Sign In to Admin Interface
    28Monitor

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
Packagist:october/system1.0.472Package registry (OSV)
Packagist:october/system1.1.5Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

Evidence

  • Nuclei detection template ×1
  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×2

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Nuclei detection templateNuclei template CVE-2021-32648 —
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:122022-01-14
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:12022-01-20

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.

  1. Published
  2. First PoC+140 d
  3. CISA KEV+144 d
  4. TodayNov 14, 2026+1905 d

Patch and commit links

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

Chain candidates

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

  • CVE-2021-32650141 days apartArbitrary code execution in october/system
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2021-32649141 days apartAuthenticated file write leads to remote code execution in october/system
    35Monitor
  • CVE-2021-21264115 days apartBypass of fix for CVE-2020-26231, Twig sandbox escape
    20Monitor

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · researcher credit · public bounty program.

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

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-287 · Improper Authentication

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Root cause

Authentication is added route by route instead of being enforced in one place. When a route added later bypasses the shared middleware, the session check never runs for it.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-287 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
app.use("/admin", requireSession, adminRouter);
// Route added later skips the middlewareapp.post("/admin-api/config", updateConfig);

Fixed

ts
const admin = express.Router();admin.use(requireSession, requireRole("admin"));
admin.post("/config", updateConfig);app.use("/admin", admin);

Attack context

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

References

Show all references (3 more)

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

All records