# CVE-2021-32076: Access Restriction bypass vulnerability via referrer spoof - Business Logic Bypass

> Attackers can bypass IP restrictions to access the admin account creation page by spoofing the HTTP referrer header.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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:** 26 Aug 2021
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x84r-583w-g39w

## What is CVE-2021-32076?

CVE-2021-32076 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in SolarWinds Web Help Desk, published on 26 Aug 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Access Restriction Bypass via referrer spoof was discovered in SolarWinds Web Help Desk 12.7.2. An attacker can access the 'Web Help Desk Getting Started Wizard', especially the admin account creation page, from a non-privileged IP address network range or loopback address by intercepting the HTTP request and changing the referrer from the public IP address to the loopback.

Weakness: CWE-290 (Authentication Bypass by Spoofing)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-32076?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Solarwinds Web Help Desk.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-32076?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-32076 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-32076 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-32076 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in SolarWinds Web Help Desk

- [CVE-2025-40551](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40551/): SolarWinds Web Help Desk Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-26399](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-26399/): SolarWinds Web Help Desk Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-28986](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-28986/): SolarWinds Web Help Desk Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-28987](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-28987/): SolarWinds Web Help Desk Hardcoded Credential (critical 9.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-40536](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40536/): SolarWinds Web Help Desk Security Control Bypass (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-32076 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-32076 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in SolarWinds Web Help Desk, published on 26 Aug 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-32076 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: SolarWinds Web Help Desk. 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-2021-32076/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32076/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-32076
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-32076
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-32076

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32076/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.