# CVE-2004-2736: Auth bypass in n/a

> Remote attackers can bypass authentication in Polar HelpDesk by manipulating cookie values, gaining unauthorized access.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Oct 2007
- **Updated:** 8 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c246-vh69-9f94

## What is CVE-2004-2736?

CVE-2004-2736 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 9 Oct 2007. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Polar HelpDesk 3.0 allows remote attackers to bypass authentication by setting the UserId and UserType values in a cookie.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2004-2736?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Polar Software Helpdesk.

## How do I fix CVE-2004-2736?

No fix has been published for CVE-2004-2736 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2004-2736 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2004-2736 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Polar Helpdesk 3.0 - Cookie Based Authentication Bypass (exploitdb)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2004-2736 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2004-2736 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 9 Oct 2007. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2004-2736 exists.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-2736/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-2736/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2004-2736
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2004-2736
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2004-2736

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-2736/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.