---
id: CVE-2021-45083
aliases:
  - GHSA-5946-mpw5-pqxx
  - PYSEC-2022-38
title: Incorrect Default Permissions in Cobbler
summary: Incorrect Default Permissions in Cobbler
severity: high
cvss: 7.1
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N'
vendor: cobbler
product: cobbler
ecosystem: pip
affected:
  - cobbler < 3.3.1
patched:
  - cobbler 3.3.1
published: '2022-02-21'
updated: '2026-09-10'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-10T03:49:11.546482966Z'
source: OSV
sourceUrl: 'https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-5946-mpw5-pqxx'
references:
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-45083'
  - url: 'https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler/pull/2945'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler/commit/10b2112db83fedfc391e900edfedc2b4e507d3f7
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1193671'
  - url: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-5946-mpw5-pqxx'
  - url: 'https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler'
  - url: 'https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler/releases'
  - url: 'https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler/releases/tag/v3.3.1'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/cobbler/PYSEC-2022-38.yaml
  - url: >-
      https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TEJN7CPW6YCHBFQPFZKGA6AVA6T5NPIW
  - url: >-
      https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/Z5CSXQE7Q4TVDQJKFYBO4XDH3BZ7BLAR
  - url: >-
      https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ZCXMOUW4DH4DYWIJN44SMSU6R3CZDZBE
  - url: 'https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/02/18/3'
tags:
  - osv
  - pip
epss: 0.00311
epssPercentile: 0.24156
ingestedAt: '2026-09-12T03:13:01.659Z'
---

## Overview

An issue was discovered in Cobbler before 3.3.1. Files in /etc/cobbler are world readable. Two of those files contain some sensitive information that can be exposed to a local user who has non-privileged access to the server. The users.digest file contains the sha2-512 digest of users in a Cobbler local installation. In the case of an easy-to-guess password, it's trivial to obtain the plaintext string. The settings.yaml file contains secrets such as the hashed default password.

## Affected packages

- `cobbler < 3.3.1`

## Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

- `cobbler 3.3.1`