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OtrsApplication

CVE-2021-36095

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.0.29 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Malicious attacker is able to find out valid user logins by using the "lost password" feature. This issue affects: OTRS AG ((OTRS)) Community Edition version 6.0.1 and later versions. OTRS AG OTRS 7.0.x version 7.0.28 and prior versions.

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

The 'lost password' feature in OTRS allows attackers to enumerate valid user accounts by submitting usernames or email addresses and observing different responses that indicate whether the account exists. This user enumeration vulnerability enables attackers to identify valid login IDs for further attacks.

MitigationImplement generic error messages that always return the same response regardless of whether the submitted username/email exists in the system, combined with rate limiting on the lost password endpoint.

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
OtrsApplication
Affected:>= 6.0.1>= 7.0.0, < 7.0.29

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify OTRS version
    Check your installed OTRS version by viewing the version file in the OTRS installation directory, or by accessing the admin panel system information page
    Affected if The installed version falls within >= 6.0.1 or >= 7.0.0, < 7.0.29
  2. Verify lost password functionality is accessible
    Confirm the lost password endpoint is enabled and accessible on your OTRS system (typically at /otrs/index.pl?Action=CustomerPasswordReset or similar path)
    Affected if The lost password feature is enabled and publicly accessible
  3. Test user enumeration response difference
    Submit two password reset requests: one with a known-valid username/email and one with a known-invalid username/email. Compare the response messages, timing, or error codes returned by each request
    Affected if The system returns different responses (such as different error messages, different HTTP status codes, or different response times) depending on whether the submitted username/email exists in the system

You are affected if your OTRS version is 6.0.1 or higher but below 7.0.29, and the lost password endpoint returns distinct responses that reveal whether a given username or email address is registered in the system.

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 7.0.29 or later
Fixed in 7.0.29
Interim mitigation

Implement generic error messages that always return the same response regardless of whether the submitted username/email exists in the system, combined with rate limiting on the lost password endpoint.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

OTRS 7.0.29 or later (for 7.x branch); for 6.x branch upgrade to the latest 6.x stable release

  1. 1. Back up your entire OTRS installation including the database before proceeding with any upgrade.
  2. 2. Review the official OTRS upgrade guide at https://otrs.com/download/ for your current version.
  3. 3. Download OTRS version 7.0.29 or later from the official OTRS download page.
  4. 4. Stop the OTRS services (otrs daemon, web server).
  5. 5. Replace the existing OTRS files with the new version files, preserving your configuration files in Kernel/Config.pm and any custom modifications.
  6. 6. Run the database migration script: perl bin/otrs.Console.pl Maint::Database::Upgrade
  7. 7. Clear the cache: perl bin/otrs.Console.pl Maint::Cache::Delete
  8. 8. Start the OTRS services.
Caveat Review OTRS 7.0 release notes for potential breaking changes between your version and 7.0.x - some features or customizations may require adjustments

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

Fix this in Otrs Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2021-36095 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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