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Fencer Vulns
medium 4.8

CVE-2021-39138 json

New anonymous user session acts as if it's created with password

published 2021-08-18 5 y ago modified 2026-09-08 2 mo ago also BIT-parse-2021-39138 , EUVD-2021-1504 , GHSA-23r4-5mxp-c7g5

cvss
4.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
1.0%
EPSS 1.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 62%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Developers can use the REST API to signup users and also allow users to login anonymously. Prior to version 4.5.1, when an anonymous user is first signed up using REST, the server creates session incorrectly. Particularly, the `authProvider` field in `_Session` class under `createdWith` shows the user logged in creating a password. If a developer later depends on the `createdWith` field to provide a different level of access between a password user and anonymous user, the server incorrectly classified the session type as being created with a `password`. The server does not currently use `createdWith` to make decisions about internal functions, so if a developer is not using `createdWith` directly, they are not affected. The vulnerability only affects users who depend on `createdWith` by using it directly. The issue is patched in Parse Server version 4.5.1. As a workaround, do not use the `createdWith` Session field to make decisions if one allows anonymous login.

Patch / fix

  • npm parse-server 4.5.2
  • bitnami parse 4.5.1
  • parseplatform parse-server 4.5.1

Exploit prediction

0.99% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 62% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 4.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
GitHub 3.1 4.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
NVD 3.1 6.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
NVD 2.0 6.4 AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N
OSV 3.1 6.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
npm parse-server
<4.5.2
4.5.2
bitnami parse
<4.5.1
4.5.1

Affected products

  • parse-community parse-server

Classification

Weakness

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.