CVE-2021-29487 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.4) Improper Authentication vulnerability in october/system. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2021-29487 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
October CMS auth bypass and account takeover
Real-World Exposure
october/system🐘october/systemReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
octobercms in a CMS platform based on the Laravel PHP Framework. In affected versions of the october/system package an attacker can exploit this vulnerability to bypass authentication and takeover of and user account on an October CMS server. The vulnerability is exploitable by unauthenticated users via a specially crafted request. This only affects frontend users and the attacker must obtain a Laravel secret key for cookie encryption and signing in order to exploit this vulnerability. The issue has been patched in Build 472 and v1.1.5.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | october/system | all versions | 1.0.472 |
| 🐘Packagist | october/system | ≥ 1.1.1&&< 1.1.5 | 1.1.5 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for october/system. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update october/system to 1.0.472 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-29487 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2021-29487 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2021-29487. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-29487 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2021-29487 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.