ElabftwApplication

CVE-2024-52586

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.1.9 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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. A vulnerability has been found starting in version 4.6.0 and prior to version 5.1.0 that allows an attacker to bypass eLabFTW's built-in multifactor authentication mechanism. An attacker who can authenticate locally (by knowing or guessing the password of a user) can thus log in regardless of MFA requirements. This does not affect MFA that are performed by single sign-on services. Users are advised to upgrade to at least version 5.1.9 to receive a fix.

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 4.6.0 through 5.0.x contain a flaw in the built-in multifactor authentication mechanism that allows an authenticated attacker with valid local credentials (password) to bypass MFA requirements entirely. The vulnerability does not affect SSO-based MFA implementations.

MitigationUpgrade eLabFTW to version 5.1.9 or later. Organizations unable to upgrade immediately should consider enforcing SSO-based MFA as an alternative or implementing additional access controls on local accounts.

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:>= 4.6.0, < 5.1.9

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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
    Check the version number of your eLabFTW installation. In the web interface, this is typically visible in the footer of pages or in the admin panel under System information. Alternatively, check the version file in the installation directory if you have CLI access.
    Affected if The installed version is 4.6.0 or higher but lower than 5.1.9
  2. Confirm built-in MFA is configured
    Check if Multifactor Authentication is enabled in your eLabFTW installation. In the admin panel, navigate to MFA configuration or check user security settings. Look for MFA settings that are NOT using an SSO provider (such as LDAP or SAML).
    Affected if Built-in TOTP-based MFA is enabled for local users; SSO-based MFA configurations are not affected by this vulnerability
  3. Verify local authentication is in use
    Review your authentication configuration to confirm that local password-based authentication is enabled. Check whether users have local credentials (username/password) in addition to or instead of SSO authentication.
    Affected if Local authentication with password-based login is enabled; accounts using SSO exclusively are not affected

You are affected if your eLabFTW version is 4.6.0 through 5.0.x (before 5.1.9) and you have built-in MFA enabled for local accounts using password authentication.

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 5.1.9 or later
Fixed in 5.1.9
Interim mitigation

Upgrade eLabFTW to version 5.1.9 or later. Organizations unable to upgrade immediately should consider enforcing SSO-based MFA as an alternative or implementing additional access controls on local accounts.

Recommended fix High confidence

5.1.9

  1. Upgrade eLabFTW to version 5.1.9 or higher to resolve the MFA bypass vulnerability

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

Fix this in Elabftw Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2024-52586 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
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