# CVE-2021-43835: Privilege escalation in the Sulu Admin panel

> Authenticated users with admin UI access can escalate privileges via the API to gain unauthorized permissions in Sulu CMS.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Dec 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-84px-q68r-2fc9

## What is CVE-2021-43835?

CVE-2021-43835 is a high-severity vulnerability in sulu, published on 15 Dec 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Sulu is an open-source PHP content management system based on the Symfony framework. In affected versions Sulu users who have access to any subset of the admin UI are able to elevate their privilege. Over the API it was possible for them to give themselves permissions to areas which they did not already had. This issue was introduced in 2.0.0-RC1 with the new ProfileController putAction. The versions have been patched in 2.2.18, 2.3.8 and 2.4.0. For users unable to upgrade the only known workaround is to apply a patch to the ProfileController manually.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-43835?

6 open source packages ship an affected version, including sulu/sulu. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `sulu/sulu` | Packagist | From 2.0.0 | 2.2.18 |
| `sulu/sulu` | Packagist | From 2.0.0 | 2.2.18 |
| `sulu/sulu` | Packagist | From 2.3.0 | 2.3.8 |
| `sulu/sulu` | Packagist | From 2.3.0 | 2.3.8 |
| `sulu/sulu` | Packagist | From 2.4.0-RC1 | 2.4.0 |
| `sulu/sulu` | Packagist | From 2.4.0-RC1 | 2.4.0 |

Products: Sulu Sulu.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-43835?

Upgrade sulu/sulu to a fixed version for your release line: 2.2.18, 2.3.8 or 2.4.0.

## Is CVE-2021-43835 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-43835 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in sulu

- [CVE-2021-43836](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43836/): PHP file inclusion in the Sulu admin panel (high 8.5)
- [CVE-2021-32737](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32737/): XSS Injection in Media Collection Title was possible (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2024-27915](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-27915/): Sulu grants access to pages regardless of role permissions (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2021-41169](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41169/): Improper Neutralization HTML tags in sulu/sulu (medium 6.2)
- [CVE-2024-47617](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-47617/): Reflected XSS Vulnerability in Sulu Media Bundle (medium 6.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-43835 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-43835 is a high-severity vulnerability in sulu, published on 15 Dec 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-43835 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- sulu/sulu (Packagist): affected from 2.0.0; fixed in 2.2.18
- sulu/sulu (Packagist): affected from 2.0.0; fixed in 2.2.18
- sulu/sulu (Packagist): affected from 2.3.0; fixed in 2.3.8
- sulu/sulu (Packagist): affected from 2.3.0; fixed in 2.3.8
- sulu/sulu (Packagist): affected from 2.4.0-RC1; fixed in 2.4.0
- sulu/sulu (Packagist): affected from 2.4.0-RC1; fixed in 2.4.0

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-2021-43835/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43835/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-43835
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-43835
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-43835

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43835/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.