CVE-2021-28399
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 · uneditedOrangeHRM 4.7 allows an unauthenticated user to enumerate the valid username and email address via the forgot password function.
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 confidenceOrangeHRM 4.7's forgot password function reveals different error messages or response times for valid versus invalid usernames and email addresses, allowing unauthenticated attackers to enumerate valid system credentials through systematic probing.
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= 4.7CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm OrangeHRM versionAccess the OrangeHRM login page or check the version file (typically in /symfony/apps/orangehrm/config/app.yml or through the admin dashboard under 'About' or 'System Info'). Verify the installed version is exactly 4.7.Affected if The installed version is OrangeHRM 4.7 (version 4.7 specifically). Earlier or later versions are not affected by this specific CVE.
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Verify forgot password is accessibleNavigate to the forgot password endpoint (typically at /index.php/auth/requestPasswordReset or /index.php/auth/forgotPassword on the OrangeHRM server). Confirm the page loads without authentication requirements.Affected if The forgot password page is publicly accessible without authentication. If it requires login, the enumeration attack surface is reduced.
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Test username enumerationSubmit a known-valid username (such as 'admin' or a test account) to the forgot password form, then submit a random/invalid username. Compare both the HTTP response body (error messages) and the response time (in milliseconds).Affected if The error messages differ (e.g., 'User does not exist' vs generic 'Invalid username or email') OR the response times vary significantly between valid and invalid usernames, indicating the vulnerability is present.
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Test email enumerationSubmit a valid email address associated with an account versus a non-existent email address to the forgot password form. Compare the returned messages and response times.Affected if Different error messages or measurable timing differences exist between valid and invalid email submissions, confirming user enumeration is possible.
If running OrangeHRM version 4.7 with the forgot password feature enabled and the system returns distinguishable messages or timing differences for valid versus invalid usernames/emails, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2021-28399.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataModify the forgot password functionality to return identical responses (both message content and timing) for both valid and invalid input, regardless of whether the submitted username or email exists in the system.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-28399 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-28399 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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