ElabftwApplication

CVE-2024-25633

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-08-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.0.0 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
eLabFTW is an open source electronic lab notebook for research labs. In an eLabFTW system, one can configure who is allowed to create new user accounts. A vulnerability has been found starting in version 4.4.0 and prior to version 5.0.0 that allows regular users to create new, validated accounts in their team. If the system has anonymous access enabled (disabled by default) an unauthenticated user can create regular users in any team. This vulnerability has been fixed since version 5.0.0, released on February 17th 2024. Some workarounds are available. Disabling both options that allow *administrators* to create users will provide a mitigation. Additionally, disabling anonymous user access will stop anonymous access (including using existing access keys).

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

eLabFTW versions 4.4.0 to prior to 5.0.0 contain an authorization flaw where regular users can create new validated user accounts within their team. If anonymous access is enabled (disabled by default), unauthenticated attackers can create regular user accounts in any team, enabling privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade to eLabFTW version 5.0.0 or later. As a workaround, disable the administrator user creation options and disable anonymous user access.

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
ElabftwApplication
Affected:>= 4.4.0, < 5.0.0

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 eLabFTW version
    Locate the version file or check the application interface (usually in admin panel or about page) to determine if the installed version falls between 4.4.0 and 5.0.0 exclusive
    Affected if Version is 4.4.0 or higher but lower than 5.0.0
  2. Verify anonymous access status
    Check the eLabFTW configuration settings (typically in the sysconfig panel or config file) to determine if anonymous user access is enabled
    Affected if Anonymous access is turned ON (this allows unauthenticated attackers to exploit the flaw)
  3. Inspect user creation permissions
    Examine the team or group settings to verify if regular (non-admin) users have the ability to create new validated user accounts within their team
    Affected if Regular users are permitted to create new validated user accounts

You are affected if your eLabFTW installation is version 4.4.0 or higher but below 5.0.0 AND either regular users can create accounts in your team, or anonymous access is enabled (which allows anyone to create accounts).

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 5.0.0 or later
Fixed in 5.0.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to eLabFTW version 5.0.0 or later. As a workaround, disable the administrator user creation options and disable anonymous user access.

Recommended fix High confidence

5.0.0 or later

  1. Upgrade eLabFTW to version 5.0.0 or later, released February 17th, 2024
  2. If immediate upgrade is not possible, disable anonymous user access in the system configuration as a workaround
  3. As an additional mitigation, disable both options that allow administrators to create users in the system settings

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

Fix this in Elabftw Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-25633 — 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-2024-25633 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