CVE-2021-38295

HIGH

Apache CouchDB - Privilege Escalation

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 1 public exploit for CVE-2021-38295. PoCs published by ProfessionallyEvil.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This repository contains a functional Python PoC for CVE-2021-38295, which exploits an information disclosure vulnerability in CouchDB. The script creates a malicious HTML attachment that fetches and displays node configuration data, which should only be accessible to admins.

Description

In Apache CouchDB, a malicious user with permission to create documents in a database is able to attach a HTML attachment to a document. If a CouchDB admin opens that attachment in a browser, e.g. via the CouchDB admin interface Fauxton, any JavaScript code embedded in that HTML attachment will be executed within the security context of that admin. A similar route is available with the already deprecated _show and _list functionality. This privilege escalation vulnerability allows an attacker to add or remove data in any database or make configuration changes. This issue affected Apache CouchDB prior to 3.1.2

Exploits (1)

nomisec WORKING POC 3 stars
by ProfessionallyEvil · poc
https://github.com/ProfessionallyEvil/CVE-2021-38295-PoC

This repository contains a functional Python PoC for CVE-2021-38295, which exploits an information disclosure vulnerability in CouchDB. The script creates a malicious HTML attachment that fetches and displays node configuration data, which should only be accessible to admins.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Info Leak
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: CouchDB (versions affected by CVE-2021-38295)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Valid credentials for a CouchDB database · Network access to the target CouchDB instance
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →

References (1)

Core 1
Core References

Scores

CVSS v3 7.3
EPSS 0.0900
EPSS Percentile 92.7%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-79
Status published
Products (1)
apache/couchdb < 3.1.2
Published Oct 14, 2021
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026