CVE-2021-24527Known exploitationPublic exploitNetwork attack vector

Unauthenticated administrator takeover via sanitized reset key

Published Aug 16, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Authentication bypass in Cozmoslabs Profile Builder before 3.4.9 allows remote attackers to reset an administrator password. The reset handler checks a supplied key for emptiness before sanitize_text_field strips HTML, then queries the recovery-key column with the resulting empty string and selects user ID 1. An unauthenticated request to a page containing the recovery form can therefore replace the administrator password without an email notification, granting full blog access.

CVSS severity9.8
Critical
EPSS probability7.63%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationReported
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Authentication bypass in Cozmoslabs Profile Builder before 3.4.9 allows remote attackers to reset an administrator password. The reset handler checks a supplied key for emptiness before sanitize_text_field strips HTML, then queries the recovery-key column with the resulting empty string and selects user ID 1. An unauthenticated request to a page containing the recovery form can therefore replace the administrator password without an email notification, granting full blog access.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-24527
Published
Aug 16, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Cozmoslabs
Product
Profile Builder
Classifications
CWE-287, T1078
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 16, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=3.4.9 <3.4.9

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Cozmoslabs · Profile Builderversion=3.4.9 <3.4.9

Published CVSS scores

10.0NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
9.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationReported
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-287Improper Authentication
T1078Valid Accounts

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Reported exploitation

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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