How severe is GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc?

GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc has a CVSS score of 8.2/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc?

GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc affects the following packages: october/system (Packagist), october/system (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc?

Update october/system to version 1.0.472 or later. Run your dependency manager's update command and verify no transitive dependencies pin the vulnerable version. Use O3 Security's SCA scanner to confirm the fix is applied across your entire dependency tree.

Is GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 4 known exploit references for GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc, including 4 in-the-wild exploitations 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 GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc?

GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 93.0%, placing it in the 100th 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. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc (October CMS Improper Authentication) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2022-01-18. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-02-01. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc?

GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc is classified as Improper Authentication (CWE-287). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Is there exploit tooling available for GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc?

A Nuclei detection template exists for GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc was published on August 30, 2021 and was last updated on March 13, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CISA KEV·Added 2022-01-18 — agencies required to remediate by 2022-02-01

🐘 Packagist

GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc

HIGH

Account Takeover in Octobercms

Also known asCVE-2021-32648

Published

Aug 30, 2021

Updated

Mar 13, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

4 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

93.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk100th percentile0.00%

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

2 pkgs affected

🐘october/system🐘october/system

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

Impact

An attacker can request an account password reset and then gain access to the account using a specially crafted request.

To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must know the username of an administrator and have access to the password reset form.

Patches

Issue has been patched in Build 472 and v1.1.5
Shortened patch instructions

Workarounds

Apply https://github.com/octobercms/library/commit/016a297b1bec55d2e53bc889458ed2cb5c3e9374 and https://github.com/octobercms/library/commit/5bd1a28140b825baebe6becd4f7562299d3de3b9 to your installation manually if you are unable to upgrade.

[Update 2022-01-20] Shortened patch instructions can be found here.

Recommendations

We recommend the following steps to make sure your server stays secure:

Keep server OS and system software up to date.
Keep October CMS software up to date.
Use a multi-factor authentication plugin.
Change the default backend URL or block public access to the backend area.
Include the Roave/SecurityAdvisories Composer package to ensure that your application doesn't have installed dependencies with known security vulnerabilities.

References

Bugs found as part of Solar Security CMS Research. Credits to: • Andrey Basarygin • Andrey Guzei • Mikhail Khramenkov • Alexander Sidukov • Maxim Teplykh

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Email us at [email protected]

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

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

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.

octobercms in a CMS platform based on the Laravel PHP Framework. In affe…

github.comGithubJan 2022

octobercms in a CMS platform based on the Laravel PHP Framework. In affe…

github.comAPIJan 2022

octobercms in a CMS platform based on the Laravel PHP Framework. In affe…

twitter.comAPIJan 2022

octobercms in a CMS platform based on the Laravel PHP Framework. In affe…

cisa.govCISAJan 2022

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact An attacker can request an account password reset and then gain access to the account using a specially crafted request. - To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must know the username of an administrator and have access to the password reset form. ### Patches - Issue has been patched in Build 472 and v1.1.5 - [Shortened patch instructions](https://github.com/daftspunk/CVE-2021-32648) ### Workarounds Apply https://github.com/octobercms/library/commit/016a297b1bec55d2e53bc889458ed2cb5c3e9374 and https://github.com/octobercms/library/commit/5bd1a28140b825baebe6becd4f7562299d

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc in your stack?

O3 detects GHSA-mxr5-mc97-63rc 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 stack How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

8.2/10

CVSS v3 base score

Vector breakdown

AV:Attack Vector

Network

AC:Attack Complexity

Low

PR:Privileges Required

None

UI:User Interaction