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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2021-30164

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-04-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.0.8 / 4.1.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
Redmine before 4.0.8 and 4.1.x before 4.1.2 allows attackers to bypass the add_issue_notes permission requirement by leveraging the Issues API.

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

Redmine before 4.0.8 and 4.1.2 contains an authorization bypass vulnerability in the Issues API where the add_issue_notes permission check is not properly enforced, allowing authenticated users to add issue notes without the required permission.

MitigationUpgrade Redmine to version 4.0.8, 4.1.2, or later to resolve the authorization bypass in the Issues API.

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
RedmineApplication
Affected:< 4.0.8>= 4.1.0, < 4.1.2

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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. Check installed Redmine version
    Locate the Redmine installation and identify the version number from the version file, Gemfile, or the Redmine administration interface (Administration > Information).
    Affected if The version is less than 4.0.8, or greater than or equal to 4.1.0 but less than 4.1.2.
  2. Verify REST API is enabled
    Check the Redmine configuration file (config/configuration.yml or through the Administration > Settings > API panel) to confirm the REST API is enabled for web service access.
    Affected if The REST API is enabled and accessible to authenticated users.
  3. Confirm authenticated API access exists
    Review which users or API keys have access to the Redmine REST API, particularly the /issues/:issue_id/notes endpoint used for adding issue notes.
    Affected if Authenticated users or API tokens can access the Issues API without granular permission enforcement.
  4. Inspect permission configuration
    Navigate to Administration > Roles and Permissions in Redmine and verify which roles are granted the 'Add issue notes' permission, then check if API requests bypass this permission check.
    Affected if Users with API access can add notes to issues despite lacking the 'Add issue notes' permission in their role configuration.

You are affected if your Redmine version is below 4.0.8 or between 4.1.0 and 4.1.1 inclusive, and the REST API is enabled allowing authenticated users to access the Issues API.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.0.8 / 4.1.2 or later
Fixed in 4.0.84.1.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Redmine to version 4.0.8, 4.1.2, or later to resolve the authorization bypass in the Issues API.

Recommended fix High confidence

Redmine 4.0.8 or 4.1.2 depending on your current major version

  1. 1. Back up your current Redmine database and files
  2. 2. Check your current Redmine version in Administration > Information
  3. 3. For Redmine 4.0.x: Upgrade to version 4.0.8
  4. 4. For Redmine 4.1.0-4.1.1: Upgrade to version 4.1.2
  5. 5. Review the release notes for your target version for any required migration steps
  6. 6. Stop the Redmine application server
  7. 7. Install the new version following standard Redmine upgrade procedures
  8. 8. Run any required database migrations (rake db:migrate)
Caveat Review target version release notes for any configuration or plugin compatibility changes before upgrading

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

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-30164 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