CVE-2021-22883

Node.js before 10.24.0, 12.21.0, 14.16.0, and 15.10.0 is vulnerable to a denial of service attack when too many connection attempts with an 'unknownProtocol' are established. This leads to a leak of file descriptors. If a file descriptor limit is configured on the system, then the server is unable to accept new connections and prevent the process also from opening, e.g. a file. If no file descriptor limit is configured, then this lead to an excessive memory usage and cause the system to run out of memory.

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

CVE-2021-22883 is rated Moderate Risk (63/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 89.43%, 100th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize 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-2021-22883

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 2026-03-17 91.32% 89.43% -1.89%
2 2026-03-16 91.12% 91.32% +0.19%
3 2026-03-04 — 91.12% —

Full EPSS history (58 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-22883

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
7.8 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 10.0 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-22883

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-22883

vendor priority summary link
alpine high CVE-2021-22883: 2 source package rows (nodejs, nodejs-current); 61 state rows across 16 repos (3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-community, 3.17-main, 3.18-community, 3.18-main, 3.19-community, 3.19-main, 3.20-community, 3.20-main, 3.21-community, 3.21-main, 3.22-community, 3.22-main, edge-community, edge-main); fixed 16, open 45. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2021-22883
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-22883 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (nodejs), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-22883
gentoo low CVE-2021-22883: 1 GLSA(s) (202405-29), 1 atom(s) (net-libs/nodejs); latest impact low. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2021-22883
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-22883
suse high CVE-2021-22883 severity important: SUSE including 51 source package names (12:nodejs12-12.21.0-4.13.2, 12:npm12-12.21.0-4.13.2, …), 167 product×package rows across 27 product lines (Container bci/node, Container bci/nodejs, … (27 product lines)): Fixed 167. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-22883/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-22883 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (nodejs), 12 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 5, not-affected 5, released 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-22883

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-22883

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
nodejs node.js >= 10.0.0, < 10.24.0 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 12.0.0, < 12.21.0 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 14.0.0, < 14.16.0 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 15.0.0, < 15.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 32 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:32:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 33 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 34 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp e-series_performance_analyzer — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:e-series_performance_analyzer:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle graalvm 19.3.5 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:graalvm:19.3.5:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*
oracle graalvm 20.3.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:graalvm:20.3.1.2:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*
oracle graalvm 21.0.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:graalvm:21.0.0.2:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*
oracle jd_edwards_enterpriseone_tools < 9.2.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:jd_edwards_enterpriseone_tools:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle mysql_cluster <= 8.0.25 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:mysql_cluster:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle nosql_database < 20.3 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:nosql_database:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.58 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.58:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.59 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.59:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
siemens sinec_infrastructure_network_services < 1.0.1.1 cpe:2.3:a:siemens:sinec_infrastructure_network_services:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-22883

URL Tags
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf Patch Third Party Advisory
https://hackerone.com/reports/1043360 Permissions Required Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/E4FRS5ZVK4ZQ7XIJQNGIKUXG2DJFHLO7/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/F45Y7TXSU33MTKB6AGL2Q5V5ZOCNPKOG/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/HSYFUGKFUSZ27M5TEZ3FKILWTWFJTFAZ/
https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/february-2021-security-releases/ Patch Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210416-0001/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com//security-alerts/cpujul2021.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuApr2021.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html Patch Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence