How severe is CVE-2021-41189?

CVE-2021-41189 has a CVSS score of 7.2/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-41189?

CVE-2021-41189 affects the following packages: org.dspace:dspace-api (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2021-41189?

Update org.dspace:dspace-api to 7.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-41189 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2021-41189 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.dspace:dspace-api, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-41189 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.

Is CVE-2021-41189 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2021-41189, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2021-41189?

CVE-2021-41189 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.1%, placing it in the 81th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2021-41189?

CVE-2021-41189 is classified as CWE-863 (CWE-863). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2021-41189 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-41189 was published on October 29, 2021 and was last updated on July 22, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

☕

☕ Maven

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2021-41189 — dspace-api

HIGHFix: DSpace/DSpace@277b499

CVE-2021-41189 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.2) CWE-863 vulnerability in org.dspace:dspace-api. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.dspace:dspace-api — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Communities and collections administrators can escalate their privilege up to system administrator

Also known asGHSA-cf2j-vf36-c6w8

Published

Oct 29, 2021

Updated

Jul 22, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 9, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs81th percentile — riskier than 81% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-41189 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 385,386 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

☕org.dspace:dspace-api

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Impact

Any community or collection administrator can escalate their permission up to become system administrator.

This vulnerability only existed in 7.0 and does not impact 6.x or below.

Patches

Fix is included in 7.1. Please upgrade to 7.1 at your earliest convenience.

Workarounds

In 7.0, temporarily disable the ability for community or collection administrators to manage permissions or workflows settings, i.e. set the following properties in your local.cfg / dspace.cfg file

core.authorization.collection-admin.policies = false
core.authorization.community-admin.policies = false
core.authorization.community-admin.collection.workflows = false

Once upgraded to 7.1, these settings can be safely reverted to the default values of true.

References

Discovered during investigation of https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/issues/7928

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Email us at [email protected]

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.dspace:dspace-api`	≥ 7.0&&< 7.1	7.1`org.dspace:dspace-api:7.1`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

dspaceduraspace

1 version

7.0

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

DSpace is an open source turnkey repository application. In version 7.0,…

github.comNVDNov 2021

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.dspace:dspace-api, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.dspace:dspace-api to 7.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-41189 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact Any community or collection administrator can escalate their permission up to become system administrator. This vulnerability only existed in 7.0 and does not impact 6.x or below. ### Patches Fix is included in [7.1](https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/releases/tag/dspace-7.1). Please upgrade to 7.1 at your earliest convenience. ### Workarounds In 7.0, temporarily disable the ability for community or collection administrators to manage permissions or workflows settings, i.e. set the following properties in your local.cfg / dspace.cfg file ``` core.authorization.collection-admin.poli