CVE-2021-43833
Account takeover in eLabFTW
eLabFTW is an electronic lab notebook manager for research teams. In versions prior to 4.2.0 there is a vulnerability which allows any authenticated user to gain access to arbitrary accounts by setting a specially crafted email address. This vulnerability impacts all instances that have not set an explicit email domain name allowlist. Note that whereas neither administrators nor targeted users are notified of a change, an attacker will need to control an account. The default settings require administrators to validate newly created accounts. The problem has been patched. Users should upgrade to at least version 4.2.0. For users unable to upgrade enabling an email domain allow list (from Sysconfig panel, Security tab) will completely resolve the issue.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
8.1
Account takeover in eLabFTW
eLabFTW is an electronic lab notebook manager for research teams. In versions prior to 4.2.0 there is a vulnerability which allows any authenticated user to gain access to arbitrary accounts by setting a specially crafted email address. This vulnerability impacts all instances that have not set an explicit email domain name allowlist. Note that whereas neither administrators nor targeted users are notified of a change, an attacker will need to control an account. The default settings require administrators to validate newly created accounts. The problem has been patched. Users should upgrade to at least version 4.2.0. For users unable to upgrade enabling an email domain allow list (from Sysconfig panel, Security tab) will completely resolve the issue.
- Record
CVE-2021-43833- CVSS 3.1
- 8.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-30712
8.1
eLabFTW is an electronic lab notebook manager for research teams. In versions prior to 4.2.0 there is a vulnerability which allows any authenticated user to gain access to arbitrary accounts by setting a specially crafted email address. This vulnerability impacts all instances that have not set an explicit email domain name allowlist. Note that whereas neither administrators nor targeted users are notified of a change, an attacker will need to control an account. The default settings require administrators to validate newly created accounts. The problem has been patched. Users should upgrade to at least version 4.2.0. For users unable to upgrade enabling an email domain allow list (from Sysconfig panel, Security tab) will completely resolve the issue.
- Record
EUVD-2021-30712- CVSS 3.1
- 8.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
NVD
8.1
eLabFTW is an electronic lab notebook manager for research teams. In versions prior to 4.2.0 there is a vulnerability which allows any authenticated user to gain access to arbitrary accounts by setting a specially crafted email address. This vulnerability impacts all instances that have not set an explicit email domain name allowlist. Note that whereas neither administrators nor targeted users are notified of a change, an attacker will need to control an account. The default settings require administrators to validate newly created accounts. The problem has been patched. Users should upgrade to at least version 4.2.0. For users unable to upgrade enabling an email domain allow list (from Sysconfig panel, Security tab) will completely resolve the issue.
- Record
CVE-2021-43833- CVSS 3.1
- 8.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 6.5 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
8.8
eLabFTW is an electronic lab notebook manager for research teams. In versions prior to 4.2.0 there is a vulnerability which allows any authenticated user to gain access to arbitrary accounts by setting a specially crafted email address. This vulnerability impacts all instances that have not set an explicit email domain name allowlist. Note that whereas neither administrators nor targeted users are notified of a change, an attacker will need to control an account. The default settings require administrators to validate newly created accounts. The problem has been patched. Users should upgrade to at least version 4.2.0. For users unable to upgrade enabling an email domain allow list (from Sysconfig panel, Security tab) will completely resolve the issue.
- Record
CVE-2021-43833- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-43833 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.1) in Elabftw, published December 15, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.84%, the 58th percentile. No source names a fixed version.