What is CVE-2021-40848?

CVE-2021-40848 is a high-severity vulnerability in Mahara, classified under Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2021-11-03.

How severe is CVE-2021-40848?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Mahara

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 modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.010 (61.9th percentile), scored 2026-10-20.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 62nd percentile — 61.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.010 · newest: 0.010 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Mahara — versions 21.10.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-1236 — Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File

References

bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+bug/1930471 (Vendor Advisory)
mahara.org/interaction/forum/topic.php (Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-40848?: CVE-2021-40848 is a high-severity vulnerability in Mahara, classified under Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2021-11-03.
How severe is CVE-2021-40848?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.