Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2021-31864
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 · uneditedRedmine before 4.0.9, 4.1.x before 4.1.3, and 4.2.x before 4.2.1 allows attackers to bypass the add_issue_notes permission requirement by leveraging the incoming mail handler.
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 confidenceRedmine's incoming mail handler fails to properly enforce the add_issue_notes permission, allowing attackers to bypass authorization checks and add notes to issues without having the required permission. This is an authorization bypass vulnerability in the email-to-issue processing functionality.
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
= 9.0< 4.0.9>= 4.1.0, < 4.1.3>= 4.2.0, < 4.2.1CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine Redmine versionAccess Redmine's About page (admin/about) or check the VERSION file in the Redmine root directory, or run 'ruby -r redmine -e "puts Redmine::VERSION"' if you have shell accessAffected if Installed version is < 4.0.9, or >= 4.1.0 and < 4.1.3, or >= 4.2.0 and < 4.2.1
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Identify if incoming mail handler is activeCheck for cron jobs, systemd timers, or scheduled tasks running 'rake redmine:email:receive_*' commands. Look in /etc/cron.d/, /etc/systemd/system/, or the Redmine documentation for mail receiver rake tasksAffected if Incoming mail processing (IMAP or pipe-based) is configured and enabled on the server
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Check add_issue_notes permission assignmentIn Redmine, navigate to Administration > Roles and Permissions. For each role, verify whether the 'Add notes' permission is explicitly granted under the Issues category. Cross-reference with user accounts that have email-based issue accessAffected if Users or roles exist that receive issues via email but lack the add_issue_notes permission, allowing unauthorized note injection through the mail handler
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Review email receiving configurationExamine Redmine's incoming email settings in config/configuration.yml (under email_delivery section) and any IMAP or pipe receiver configurations. Check if 'allow_override' options permit adding notes without proper permissionAffected if The mail handler is configured to accept incoming emails and process them as issue updates or new issues
Your environment is affected if you run a vulnerable Redmine version AND have the incoming mail handler enabled, because the authorization bypass only matters when email-to-issue processing is active.
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 data4.0.94.1.34.2.1
Upgrade to Redmine 4.0.9, 4.1.3, 4.2.1 or later to obtain the patch that properly enforces permission checks in the incoming mail handler.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-31864 — 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-2021-31864 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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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.
- 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