CVE-2021-40848

In Mahara before 20.04.5, 20.10.3, 21.04.2, and 21.10.0, exported CSV files could contain characters that a spreadsheet program could interpret as a command, leading to execution of a malicious string locally on a device, aka CSV injection.

Published: 2021-11-03 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-40848 is rated Moderate Risk (53.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.45%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-40848

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 2025-11-21 0.51% 0.45% -0.06%
2 2025-11-18 0.45% 0.51% +0.06%
3 2025-11-14 — 0.45% —

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-40848

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
6.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.6 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-40848

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-40848

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
mahara mahara < 20.04.5 cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mahara mahara >= 20.10.0, < 20.10.3 cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mahara mahara >= 21.04.0, < 21.04.2 cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mahara mahara 21.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:21.10.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
mahara mahara 21.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:mahara:mahara:21.10.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-40848

cvelogic Threat Intelligence