# CVE-2021-43298: Security feature bypass in goahead

> An attacker can brute-force HTTP Basic authentication passwords by exploiting timing side-channels and lack of rate limiting in the GoAhead web server.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 25 Jan 2022
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cfh2-3f5r-4vf9

## What is CVE-2021-43298?

CVE-2021-43298 is a critical vulnerability in embedthis goahead, published on 25 Jan 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The code that performs password matching when using 'Basic' HTTP authentication does not use a constant-time memcmp and has no rate-limiting. This means that an unauthenticated network attacker can brute-force the HTTP basic password, byte-by-byte, by recording the webserver's response time until the unauthorized (401) response.

Weakness: CWE-307 (Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts), CWE-208 (Observable Timing Discrepancy)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-43298?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Embedthis Goahead.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-43298?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-43298 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-43298 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-43298 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in embedthis goahead

- [CVE-2017-17562](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17562/): Embedthis GoAhead Remote Code Execution (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-41615](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41615/): Weak cryptography in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-42342](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42342/): File upload in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-5096](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5096/): Use after free in EmbedThis (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-1000471](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-1000471/): Null dereference in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-43298 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-43298 is a critical vulnerability in embedthis goahead, published on 25 Jan 2022. 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-2021-43298 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: embedthis goahead. 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-2021-43298/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43298/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-43298
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-43298
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-43298

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43298/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.