CVE-2021-3987 | Improper Access Control in janeczku/calibre-web

Exp

An improper access control vulnerability exists in janeczku/calibre-web. The affected version allows users without public shelf permissions to create public shelves. The vulnerability is due to the `create_shelf` method in `shelf.py` not verifying if the user has the necessary permissions to create a public shelf. This issue can lead to unauthorized actions being performed by users.

Published: 2024-11-15 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-3987 is rated Exploit Available (50/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.33%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2021-3987

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-3987

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.06% 0.33% +0.28%
2 2025-08-01 0.04% 0.06% +0.01%
3 2024-11-16 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-3987

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 1.4 [email protected]
5.4 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 2.5 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-3987

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-3987

GHSA-fj5v-w2jp-wqvj · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: pip — Improper Access Control in janeczku/calibre-web

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-3987

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
janeczku calibre-web < 0.6.15 cpe:2.3:a:janeczku:calibre-web:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-3987

cvelogic Threat Intelligence