NexposeApplication · Rapid7

CVE-2021-31868

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.96 or later.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
Rapid7 Nexpose version 6.6.95 and earlier allows authenticated users of the Security Console to view and edit any ticket in the legacy ticketing feature, regardless of the assignment of the ticket. This issue was resolved in version 6.6.96, released on August 4, 2021.

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

Rapid7 Nexpose versions 6.6.95 and earlier contain a broken access control vulnerability in the legacy ticketing feature. Authenticated Security Console users can view and edit any ticket in the system regardless of proper ticket assignment permissions, allowing unauthorized access to potentially sensitive ticket data.

MitigationUpgrade Nexpose to version 6.6.96 or later. The vendor released this patch on August 4, 2021, which contains the fix for this authorization bypass.

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
NexposeApplication
Affected:< 6.6.96

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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 Nexpose version
    Check the version of Rapid7 Nexpose installed in your environment. This is typically found in the Security Console web interface (usually at the bottom of the console pages) or by checking the installation directory for version files.
    Affected if Installed version is 6.6.95 or earlier (less than 6.6.96)
  2. Locate the legacy ticketing feature
    Log into the Nexpose Security Console and navigate to the ticketing section. The legacy ticketing feature is typically accessible through the 'Tickets' or 'Vulnerability Tickets' menu option in the console.
    Affected if The legacy ticketing interface is present and accessible in the console
  3. Verify ticket assignment permissions configuration
    Examine the ticketing system's permission model by creating a test user with limited ticket assignment permissions, then attempt to access tickets assigned to other users or groups.
    Affected if A user with restricted ticket assignment permissions can view or edit tickets they should not have access to, confirming the authorization bypass exists

You are affected if your Nexpose version is below 6.6.96 AND you have access to the legacy ticketing feature, where users with limited permissions can access tickets outside their assigned scope.

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 6.6.96 or later
Fixed in 6.6.96
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Nexpose to version 6.6.96 or later. The vendor released this patch on August 4, 2021, which contains the fix for this authorization bypass.

Recommended fix High confidence

6.6.96

  1. Upgrade Rapid7 Nexpose to version 6.6.96 or later

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

Fix this in Nexpose Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-31868 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-31868 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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