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TI-2021-18033 Aliases CVE-2021-41194GHSA-5xvc-vgmp-jgc3

Improper Access Control in jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator

Priority MEDIUM 45CWE-284Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Security bypass
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-284.

Summary

FirstUseAuthenticator is a JupyterHub authenticator that helps new users set their password on their first login to JupyterHub. When JupyterHub is used with FirstUseAuthenticator, a vulnerability in versions prior to 1.0.0 allows unauthorized access to any user's account if `create_users=True` and the username is known or guessed. One may upgrade to version 1.0.0 or apply a patch manually to mitigate the vulnerability. For those who cannot upgrade, there is no complete workaround, but a partial mitigation exists. One can disable user creation with `c.FirstUseAuthenticator.create_users = False`, which will only allow login with fully normalized usernames for already existing users prior to jupyterhub-firstuserauthenticator 1.0.0. If any users have never logged in with their normalized username (i.e. lowercase), they will still be vulnerable until a patch or upgrade occurs.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.01367 72nd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed firstuseauthenticator (jupyterhub): 1.0.0jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator (PyPI): 1.0.0

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
jupyterhubfirstuseauthenticatorbefore 1.0.01.0.0Patch availableCNA
—jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator (PyPI)before 1.0.01.0.0Patch availableGHSA-5xvc-vgmp-jgc3
  • firstuseauthenticator Vendorjupyterhub Affected before 1.0.0 Fixed in 1.0.0 Patch available CNA
  • jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator (PyPI) Vendor— Affected before 1.0.0 Fixed in 1.0.0 Patch available GHSA-5xvc-vgmp-jgc3

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:jupyterhub:first_use_authenticator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*before 1.0.0Vulnerablejupyterhub
  • cpe:2.3:a:jupyterhub:first_use_authenticator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 1.0.0 Vulnerable ·jupyterhub

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA firstuseauthenticator (jupyterhub) Fixed in 1.0.0
  • Fix · GHSA-5xvc-vgmp-jgc3 jupyterhub-firstuseauthenticator (PyPI) Fixed in 1.0.0 Advisory →

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-41194
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5xvc-vgmp-jgc3

References

Sources