CVE-2021-41194
Improper Access Control in jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator
FirstUseAuthenticator is a JupyterHub authenticator that helps new users set their password on their first login to JupyterHub. When JupyterHub is used with FirstUseAuthenticator, a vulnerability in versions prior to 1.0.0 allows unauthorized access to any user's account if create_users=True and the username is known or guessed. One may upgrade to version 1.0.0 or apply a patch manually to mitigate the vulnerability. For those who cannot upgrade, there is no complete workaround, but a partial mitigation exists. One can disable user creation with c.FirstUseAuthenticator.create_users = False, which will only allow login with fully normalized usernames for already existing users prior to jupyterhub-firstuserauthenticator 1.0.0. If any users have never logged in with their normalized username (i.e. lowercase), they will still be vulnerable until a patch or upgrade occurs.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
9.1
Improper Access Control in jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator
FirstUseAuthenticator is a JupyterHub authenticator that helps new users set their password on their first login to JupyterHub. When JupyterHub is used with FirstUseAuthenticator, a vulnerability in versions prior to 1.0.0 allows unauthorized access to any user's account if create_users=True and the username is known or guessed. One may upgrade to version 1.0.0 or apply a patch manually to mitigate the vulnerability. For those who cannot upgrade, there is no complete workaround, but a partial mitigation exists. One can disable user creation with c.FirstUseAuthenticator.create_users = False, which will only allow login with fully normalized usernames for already existing users prior to jupyterhub-firstuserauthenticator 1.0.0. If any users have never logged in with their normalized username (i.e. lowercase), they will still be vulnerable until a patch or upgrade occurs.
- Record
CVE-2021-41194- CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-284
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-0104
9.1
FirstUseAuthenticator is a JupyterHub authenticator that helps new users set their password on their first login to JupyterHub. When JupyterHub is used with FirstUseAuthenticator, a vulnerability in versions prior to 1.0.0 allows unauthorized access to any user's account if create_users=True and the username is known or guessed. One may upgrade to version 1.0.0 or apply a patch manually to mitigate the vulnerability. For those who cannot upgrade, there is no complete workaround, but a partial mitigation exists. One can disable user creation with c.FirstUseAuthenticator.create_users = False, which will only allow login with fully normalized usernames for already existing users prior to jupyterhub-firstuserauthenticator 1.0.0. If any users have never logged in with their normalized username (i.e. lowercase), they will still be vulnerable until a patch or upgrade occurs.
- Record
EUVD-2021-0104- CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-5xvc-vgmp-jgc3
9.3
Improper Access Control in jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator
Impact
When JupyterHub is used with FirstUseAuthenticator, the vulnerability allows unauthorized access to any user's account if create_users=True and the username is known or guessed.
Patches
Upgrade to jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator to 1.0, or apply patch https://github.com/jupyterhub/firstuseauthenticator/pull/38.patch
Workarounds
If you cannot upgrade, there is no complete workaround, but it can be mitigated.
If you cannot upgrade yet, you can disable user creation with c.FirstUseAuthenticator.create_users = False, which will only allow login with fully normalized usernames for already existing users prior to jupyterhub-firstuserauthenticator 1.0. If any users have never logged in with their normalized username (i.e. lowercase), they will still be vulnerable until you can patch or upgrade.
- Record
GHSA-5xvc-vgmp-jgc3- CVSS 4.0
- 9.3 Critical
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-284
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
9.1
FirstUseAuthenticator is a JupyterHub authenticator that helps new users set their password on their first login to JupyterHub. When JupyterHub is used with FirstUseAuthenticator, a vulnerability in versions prior to 1.0.0 allows unauthorized access to any user's account if create_users=True and the username is known or guessed. One may upgrade to version 1.0.0 or apply a patch manually to mitigate the vulnerability. For those who cannot upgrade, there is no complete workaround, but a partial mitigation exists. One can disable user creation with c.FirstUseAuthenticator.create_users = False, which will only allow login with fully normalized usernames for already existing users prior to jupyterhub-firstuserauthenticator 1.0.0. If any users have never logged in with their normalized username (i.e. lowercase), they will still be vulnerable until a patch or upgrade occurs.
- Record
CVE-2021-41194- CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 6.8 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-284
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
9.8
FirstUseAuthenticator is a JupyterHub authenticator that helps new users set their password on their first login to JupyterHub. When JupyterHub is used with FirstUseAuthenticator, a vulnerability in versions prior to 1.0.0 allows unauthorized access to any user's account if create_users=True and the username is known or guessed. One may upgrade to version 1.0.0 or apply a patch manually to mitigate the vulnerability. For those who cannot upgrade, there is no complete workaround, but a partial mitigation exists. One can disable user creation with c.FirstUseAuthenticator.create_users = False, which will only allow login with fully normalized usernames for already existing users prior to jupyterhub-firstuserauthenticator 1.0.0. If any users have never logged in with their normalized username (i.e. lowercase), they will still be vulnerable until a patch or upgrade occurs.
- Record
CVE-2021-41194- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-5xvc-vgmp-jgc3
9.3
Improper Access Control in jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator
Impact
When JupyterHub is used with FirstUseAuthenticator, the vulnerability allows unauthorized access to any user's account if create_users=True and the username is known or guessed.
Patches
Upgrade to jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator to 1.0, or apply patch https://github.com/jupyterhub/firstuseauthenticator/pull/38.patch
Workarounds
If you cannot upgrade, there is no complete workaround, but it can be mitigated.
If you cannot upgrade yet, you can disable user creation with c.FirstUseAuthenticator.create_users = False, which will only allow login with fully normalized usernames for already existing users prior to jupyterhub-firstuserauthenticator 1.0. If any users have never logged in with their normalized username (i.e. lowercase), they will still be vulnerable until you can patch or upgrade.
- Record
GHSA-5xvc-vgmp-jgc3- CVSS 4.0
- 9.3 Critical
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-284
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2021-384 No score
FirstUseAuthenticator is a JupyterHub authenticator that helps new users set their password on their first login to JupyterHub. When JupyterHub is used with FirstUseAuthenticator, a vulnerability in versions prior to 1.0.0 allows unauthorized access to any user's account if create_users=True and the username is known or guessed. One may upgrade to version 1.0.0 or apply a patch manually to mitigate the vulnerability. For those who cannot upgrade, there is no complete workaround, but a partial mitigation exists. One can disable user creation with c.FirstUseAuthenticator.create_users = False, which will only allow login with fully normalized usernames for already existing users prior to jupyterhub-firstuserauthenticator 1.0.0. If any users have never logged in with their normalized username (i.e. lowercase), they will still be vulnerable until a patch or upgrade occurs.
- Record
PYSEC-2021-384- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticatorPyPI |
before 1.0.0 | 1.0.0 |
jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticatorPyPI |
before 1.0.0, plus listed versions 0.100.110.120.13.00.14.00.14.10.9 |
1.0.0 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-41194 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.1) in Jupyterhub Firstuseauthenticator, published October 28, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.37%, the 72nd percentile. Fixed in jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator 1.0.0.
References
github.com/jupyterhub/firstuseauthenticator/security/advisories/GHSA-5xvc-vgmp-jgc3
github.com/jupyterhub/firstuseauthenticator/pull/38
github.com/jupyterhub/firstuseauthenticator/pull/38.patch
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-41194
github.com/jupyterhub/firstuseauthenticator/pull/38/commits/32b21898fb2b53b1a2e36270de6854ad70e9e9bf
github.com/jupyterhub/firstuseauthenticator/pull/38/commits/9e200d974e0cb85d828a6afedb8ab90a37878f28