CVE-2021-43781 — invenio-drafts-resources
MEDIUMFix: inveniosoftware/invenio-drafts-resources@039b0cfCVE-2021-43781 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.3) CWE-862 vulnerability in invenio-drafts-resources. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for invenio-drafts-resources — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Permissions not properly checked in Invenio-Drafts-Resources
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-43781 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
invenio-drafts-resources🐍invenio-app-rdm🐍invenio-rdm-records🐍invenio-drafts-resources🐍invenio-rdm-records🐍invenio-app-rdmReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
Invenio-Drafts-Resources does not properly check permissions when a record is published. The vulnerability is exploitable in a default installation of InvenioRDM. An authenticated user is able via REST API calls to publish draft records of other users if they know the record identifier and the draft validates (e.g. all require fields filled out). An attacker is not able to modify the data in the record, and thus e.g. cannot change a record from restricted to public.
Details
The service's publish() method contains the following permission check:
def publish(..):
self.require_permission(identity, "publish")
However, the record should have been passed into the permission check so that the need generators have access to e.g. the record owner.
def publish(..):
self.require_permission(identity, "publish", record=record)
The bug is activated in Invenio-RDM-Records which has a need generator called RecordOwners(), which when no record is passed in defaults to allow any authenticated user:
class RecordOwners(Generator):
def needs(self, record=None, **kwargs):
if record is None:
return [authenticated_user]
# ...
Patches
The problem is patched in Invenio-Drafts-Resources v0.13.7 and 0.14.6+, which is part of InvenioRDM v6.0.1 and InvenioRDM v7.0 respectively.
You can verify the version installed of Invenio-Drafts-Resources via PIP:
cd ~/src/my-site
pipenv run pip freeze | grep invenio-drafts-resources
References
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Chat with us on Discord: https://discord.gg/8qatqBC
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | invenio-drafts-resources | all versions | 0.13.7pip install --upgrade 'invenio-drafts-resources==0.13.7' |
| 🐍PyPI | invenio-app-rdm | all versions | 6.0.5pip install --upgrade 'invenio-app-rdm==6.0.5' |
| 🐍PyPI | invenio-rdm-records | all versions | 0.32.6pip install --upgrade 'invenio-rdm-records==0.32.6' |
| 🐍PyPI | invenio-drafts-resources | ≥ 0.14.0&&< 0.14.6 | 0.14.6pip install --upgrade 'invenio-drafts-resources==0.14.6' |
| 🐍PyPI | invenio-rdm-records | ≥ 0.33.0&&< 0.33.10 | 0.33.10pip install --upgrade 'invenio-rdm-records==0.33.10' |
| 🐍PyPI | invenio-app-rdm | ≥ 7.0.0.dev0&&< 7.0.0.dev5 | 7.0.0.dev5pip install --upgrade 'invenio-app-rdm==7.0.0.dev5' |
Affected Products
invenio-drafts-resourcesinveniosoftwareResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for invenio-drafts-resources, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update invenio-drafts-resources to 0.13.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-43781 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
Is CVE-2021-43781 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.