ElabftwApplication

CVE-2024-28100

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.0.0 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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. By uploading specially crafted files, a regular user can create a circumstance where a visitor's browser runs arbitrary JavaScript code in the context of the eLabFTW application. This can be triggered by the visitor viewing a list of experiments. Viewing this allows the malicious script to act on behalf of the visitor in any way, including the creation of API keys for persistence, or other options normally available to the user. If the user viewing the page has the sysadmin role in eLabFTW, the script can act as a sysadmin (including system configuration and extensive user management roles). Users are advised to upgrade to at least version 5.0.0. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

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

This is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in eLabFTW where a regular authenticated user can upload specially crafted files containing malicious JavaScript. When other users (including visitors) view a list of experiments containing these files, the embedded script executes in their browser context, allowing the attacker to perform actions on behalf of the victim user, including creating API keys for persistence.

MitigationUpgrade eLabFTW to version 5.0.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability. No workarounds are available.

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:< 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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/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. Check eLabFTW version
    Access the admin panel or check the version file/version endpoint. In Docker deployments, run 'docker exec <container> cat version.txt' or check the image tag. The version is typically displayed in the footer of the eLabFTW interface.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 5.0.0 (e.g., 4.x.x series)
  2. Verify file upload is enabled for users
    Log in as an administrator, navigate to the configuration or security settings panel, and check if the file upload feature is permitted for regular authenticated users.
    Affected if File uploads are enabled for non-admin users, allowing them to attach files to experiments
  3. Inspect uploaded files in experiments
    Browse through experiment listings, particularly those created by regular users, and examine any attached files for suspicious file extensions or unexpected MIME types.
    Affected if There are uploaded files present in experiments that could contain embedded scripts
  4. Review recent experiment activity for malicious files
    Check server logs or the database for recent file uploads with potentially executable content (.html, .js, .svg files uploaded as other types).
    Affected if Non-image/document files were recently uploaded to experiments

You are affected if your eLabFTW installation is version 4.x or lower AND allows regular users to upload files to experiments.

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 eLabFTW to version 5.0.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability. No workarounds are available.

Recommended fix High confidence

5.0.0

  1. Backup your current eLabFTW installation and database before upgrading
  2. Review the eLabFTW 5.0.0 release notes for any specific upgrade instructions
  3. Upgrade eLabFTW to version 5.0.0 or later
  4. Verify the upgrade was successful by logging in
  5. Test that file uploads work correctly and that XSS payloads in filenames are no longer executed

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

Fix this in Elabftw Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-28100 — 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-2024-28100 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