# CVE-2021-44057: Improper authentication in Photo Station

> Attackers can bypass authentication in QNAP Photo Station to compromise system security, requiring an upgrade to patched versions.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N`)
- **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:** 5 May 2022
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9mp7-fmr4-g9vw

## What is CVE-2021-44057?

CVE-2021-44057 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in QNAP Systems Inc. Photo Station, published on 5 May 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An improper authentication vulnerability has been reported to affect QNAP device running Photo Station. If exploited, this vulnerability allows attackers to compromise the security of the system. We have already fixed this vulnerability in the following versions of Photo Station: Photo Station 6.0.20 ( 2022/02/15 ) and later Photo Station 5.7.16 ( 2022/02/11 ) and later Photo Station 5.4.13 ( 2022/02/11 ) and later

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-44057?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Qnap Photo Station.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-44057?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-44057 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-44057 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-44057 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in QNAP Systems Inc. Photo Station

- [CVE-2022-27593](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-27593/): QNAP Photo Station Externally Controlled Reference (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-7192](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7192/): QNAP Photo Station Improper Access Control (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-7194](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7194/): QNAP Photo Station Path Traversal (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-7195](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7195/): QNAP Photo Station Path Traversal (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-20210](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-20210/): Photo Station (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-44057 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-44057 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in QNAP Systems Inc. Photo Station, published on 5 May 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-44057 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: QNAP Systems Inc. Photo Station. 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-2021-44057/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-44057/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-44057
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-44057
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-44057

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-44057/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.