dbcve.org
Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2021-23225

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-01-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Cacti 1.1.38 allows authenticated users with User Management permissions to inject arbitrary web script or HTML in the "new_username" field during creation of a new user via "Copy" method at user_admin.php.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Cacti 1.1.38 contains a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in user_admin.php where authenticated users with User Management permissions can inject arbitrary web script or HTML into the 'new_username' field when creating a new user via the 'Copy' method.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of Cacti beyond 1.1.38. Additionally, implement proper input validation and output encoding for the username field to prevent XSS.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.0
CactiApplication
Affected:= 1.1.38

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Cacti version
    Log into the Cacti web interface and navigate to 'Configuration' > 'Settings' > 'General' to view the Cacti version, or check the version file on the server if you have shell access
    Affected if The installed version is 1.1.38 or lower (the vulnerability is present in 1.1.38)
  2. Verify User Management permission exists
    Log into Cacti as an administrator and navigate to 'Utilities' > 'User Management' or 'Configuration' > 'Users' to list all users
    Affected if Any user account exists in the system (the vulnerable 'Copy' function is accessible if User Management functionality is present in this version)
  3. Check for the Copy user function
    In the Cacti web interface, go to 'Utilities' > 'User Management', select an existing user, and look for a 'Copy' or 'Duplicate' button/option that allows creating a new user based on an existing one
    Affected if The Copy method functionality is available in the user_admin.php interface, allowing new user creation with a 'new_username' field
  4. Inspect the new_username field for XSS susceptibility
    If you have access to the server, examine the file 'user_admin.php' in the Cacti installation directory for the 'new_username' parameter handling and lack of input sanitization
    Affected if The code does not properly sanitize or validate the 'new_username' input before storing or displaying it

You are affected if you are running Cacti version 1.1.38 (or any version where the Copy user function in user_admin.php accepts unsanitized 'new_username' input) and have user management capabilities accessible to authenticated users.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Cacti beyond 1.1.38. Additionally, implement proper input validation and output encoding for the username field to prevent XSS.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Cacti 1.2.0 or later (any version after 1.1.38 that includes the security fix)

  1. 1. Identify the current Cacti version by checking the web interface (typically at the bottom of the page) or running: grep -i version /usr/share/cacti/include/cacti-version.php
  2. 2. Create a complete backup of the Cacti database using: mysqldump -u <db_user> -p <cacti_db> > cacti_backup.sql
  3. 3. Create a backup of the Cacti configuration directory: tar -czf cacti_config_backup.tar.gz /etc/cacti/
  4. 4. Download the fixed Cacti release (version 1.2.0 or later) from the official Cacti download page at www.cacti.net
  5. 5. Follow the official Cacti upgrade documentation to apply the new version
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by logging in and confirming the version number
  7. 7. Test the User Management functionality to confirm the XSS vulnerability is no longer exploitable: create a new user via the Copy method with a test script in the username field
Caveat Review the Cacti upgrade guide for version 1.2.x as there may be template or plugin compatibility changes from 1.1.x

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-23225 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data