# CVE-2021-31590: Auth bypass in n/a

> Attackers retain admin privileges via stale JWTs after downgrade or deletion, allowing unauthorized access to the administration panel.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Jul 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-w9w2-pj3m-5v3r

## What is CVE-2021-31590?

CVE-2021-31590 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 19 Jul 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

PwnDoc all versions until 0.4.0 (2021-08-23) has incorrect JSON Webtoken handling, leading to incorrect access control. With a valid JSON Webtoken that is used for authentication and authorization, a user can keep his admin privileges even if he is downgraded to the "user" privilege. Even after a user's account is deleted, the user can still access the administration panel (and add or delete users) and has complete access to the system.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-31590?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Pwndoc Project Pwndoc.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-31590?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-31590 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-31590 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-31590 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2022-45771](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-45771/): File upload in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2024-55602](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-55602/): PenDoc vulnerable to Arbitrary File Read on updating and downloading templates using Path Traversal (high 7.6)
- [CVE-2025-23044](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-23044/): Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) allows creating admin account with POST request (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2025-27410](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-27410/): PwnDoc Arbitrary File Write to RCE using Path Traversal in backup restore as admin (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2025-27413](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-27413/): PwnDoc Arbitrary File Write to RCE using Path Traversal in template update from backup templates.json (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-31590 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-31590 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 19 Jul 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-31590 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2021-31590/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31590/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-31590
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-31590
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-31590

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31590/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.