How severe is CVE-2021-43835?

CVE-2021-43835 has a CVSS score of 7.2/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-43835?

CVE-2021-43835 affects the following packages: sulu/sulu (Packagist), sulu/sulu (Packagist), sulu/sulu (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix CVE-2021-43835?

Update sulu/sulu to 2.2.18 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-43835 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2021-43835 in my Packagist dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for sulu/sulu. 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.

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-43835 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against CVE-2021-43835?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2021-43835 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2021-43835 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2021-43835 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2021-43835?

CVE-2021-43835 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.1%, placing it in the 62th 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.

When was CVE-2021-43835 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-43835 was published on December 15, 2021 and was last updated on April 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CVE-2021-43835: Privilege escalation in the Sulu Admin panel (H…

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk62th percentile+0.81%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Blast Radius

3 pkgs affected

🐘sulu/sulu🐘sulu/sulu🐘sulu/sulu

Real-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

Sulu is an open-source PHP content management system based on the Symfony framework. In affected versions Sulu users who have access to any subset of the admin UI are able to elevate their privilege. Over the API it was possible for them to give themselves permissions to areas which they did not already had. This issue was introduced in 2.0.0-RC1 with the new ProfileController putAction. The versions have been patched in 2.2.18, 2.3.8 and 2.4.0. For users unable to upgrade the only known workaround is to apply a patch to the ProfileController manually.

Affected Packages

3 total 3 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`sulu/sulu`	≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.2.18	2.2.18
🐘Packagist	`sulu/sulu`	≥ 2.3.0&&< 2.3.8	2.3.8
🐘Packagist	`sulu/sulu`	≥ 2.4.0-RC1&&< 2.4.0	2.4.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for sulu/sulu. 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 sulu/sulu to 2.2.18 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-43835 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-2021-43835 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-2021-43835. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sulu is an open-source PHP content management system based on the Symfony framework. In affected versions Sulu users who have access to any subset of the admin UI are able to elevate their privilege. Over the API it was possible for them to give themselves permissions to areas which they did not already had. This issue was introduced in 2.0.0-RC1 with the new ProfileController putAction. The versions have been patched in 2.2.18, 2.3.8 and 2.4.0. For users unable to upgrade the only known workaround is to apply a patch to the ProfileController manually.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2021-43835 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2021-43835 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVE-2021-43835