CVE-2021-32708 | Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition in league/flysystem

Flysystem is an open source file storage library for PHP. The whitespace normalisation using in 1.x and 2.x removes any unicode whitespace. Under certain specific conditions this could potentially allow a malicious user to execute code remotely. The conditions are: A user is allowed to supply the path or filename of an uploaded file, the supplied path or filename is not checked against unicode chars, the supplied pathname checked against an extension deny-list, not an allow-list, the supplied path or filename contains a unicode whitespace char in the extension, the uploaded file is stored in a directory that allows PHP code to be executed. Given these conditions are met a user can upload and execute arbitrary code on the system under attack. The unicode whitespace removal has been replaced with a rejection (exception). For 1.x users, upgrade to 1.1.4. For 2.x users, upgrade to 2.1.1.

Published: 2021-06-24 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-32708 is rated High Risk (66/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.49%). 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-2021-32708

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 2026-06-15 7.33% 3.49% -3.84%
2 2026-03-04 7.51% 7.33% -0.19%
3 2026-03-01 — 7.51% —

Full EPSS history (51 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-32708

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
8.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.2 5.9 [email protected]
9.3 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 8.6 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-32708

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-32708

GHSA-9f46-5r25-5wfm · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: composer — Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition in league/flysystem

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-32708

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-32708 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (php-league-flysystem), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-32708
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-32708 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (php-league-flysystem), 16 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 7, needs-triage 5, DNE 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-32708

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-32708

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
thephpleague flysystem >= 1.0.0, < 1.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:thephpleague:flysystem:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
thephpleague flysystem >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.1 cpe:2.3:a:thephpleague:flysystem:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 33 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 34 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-32708

cvelogic Threat Intelligence