# CVE-2021-25965: Calibre-web - Admin Account Takeover via Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

> Attackers can hijack admin accounts in Calibre-web via CSRF by tricking users into creating privileged roles.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Nov 2021
- **Updated:** 30 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v5hx-2wwf-52wx

## What is CVE-2021-25965?

CVE-2021-25965 is a high-severity vulnerability in calibreweb, published on 16 Nov 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

In Calibre-web, versions 0.6.0 to 0.6.13 are vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF). By luring an authenticated user to click on a link, an attacker can create a new user role with admin privileges and attacker-controlled credentials, allowing them to take over the application.

Weakness: CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-25965?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Janeczku Calibre-Web.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-25965?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-25965 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-25965 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2021-25965 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in calibreweb

- [CVE-2022-30765](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-30765/): SQL injection in calibreweb (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-12627](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12627/): Hardcoded credentials in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-0990](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0990/): Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) in janeczku/calibre-web (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2022-0767](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0767/): Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) in janeczku/calibre-web (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2022-0939](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0939/): Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) in janeczku/calibre-web (critical 9.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-25965 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-25965 is a high-severity vulnerability in calibreweb, published on 16 Nov 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2021-25965 exists.

Affected product: calibreweb. 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-2021-25965/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-25965/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-25965
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-25965
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-25965

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-25965/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.