CVE-2021-41171
mediumpriority · track · 36EPSS 0.019 · 80 %ileEUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
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.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · medium–high · 4–8.8
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (2)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
also known as (2)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
sources
Which sources assert this record, and when.
references (16)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://github.com/elabftw/elabftw/commit/8e92afeec4c3a68dc88333881b7e6307f425706bcnnvd
- https://github.com/elabftw/elabftw/releases/tag/4.1.0cnnvd
- https://github.com/elabftw/elabftw/security/advisories/GHSA-q67h-5pc3-g6jvcnnvd
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-41171cnnvd
- https://owasp.org/www-community/Slow_Down_Online_Guessing_Attacks_with_Device_Cookiescnnvd
- https://www.exploit-db.com/docs/50436cnnvd
- https://github.com/elabftw/elabftw/commit/8e92afeec4c3a68dc88333881b7e6307f425706benisa_euvd
- https://github.com/elabftw/elabftw/releases/tag/4.1.0enisa_euvd
Attackers weaponise vulnerabilities like this against internet-exposed services. See what is exposed on your perimeter with a free passive scan.
Free scan