CVE-2021-43786Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Administrator impersonation via inherited-property bearer tokens

Published Nov 29, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Authentication bypass in NodeBB 1.15.0 through 1.18.4 allows remote attackers to impersonate administrators through the REST API. Auth.verifyToken copies configured tokens into a plain object, so inherited property names such as constructor are accepted as bearer tokens and treated as master tokens. No account or valid token is required; a crafted API request can act as an administrator and reach code-execution-capable API operations.

CVSS severity9.8
Critical
EPSS probability2.29%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Authentication bypass in NodeBB 1.15.0 through 1.18.4 allows remote attackers to impersonate administrators through the REST API. Auth.verifyToken copies configured tokens into a plain object, so inherited property names such as constructor are accepted as bearer tokens and treated as master tokens. No account or valid token is required; a crafted API request can act as an administrator and reach code-execution-capable API operations.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-43786
Published
Nov 29, 2021
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
NodeBB
Product
NodeBB
Classifications
CWE-287, T1190
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 29, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=>= 1.15.0, < 1.18.5

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

NodeBB · NodeBBversion=>= 1.15.0, < 1.18.5

Published CVSS scores

9.8GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
5.0NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-287Improper Authentication
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application

Public exploit references

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

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo