CVE-2021-3281

In Django 2.2 before 2.2.18, 3.0 before 3.0.12, and 3.1 before 3.1.6, the django.utils.archive.extract method (used by "startapp --template" and "startproject --template") allows directory traversal via an archive with absolute paths or relative paths with dot segments.

Published: 2021-02-02 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-3281 is rated Moderate Risk (49/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 7.61%, 94th 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-2021-3281

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 41.48% 7.61% -33.88%
2 2026-04-21 39.06% 41.48% +2.43%
3 2026-04-19 — 39.06% —

Full EPSS history (59 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-3281

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N 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:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 1.4 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N 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:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-3281

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-3281

GHSA-fvgf-6h6h-3322 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: pip — Django Directory Traversal via archive.extract

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-3281

vendor priority summary link
alpine medium CVE-2021-3281: 1 source package rows (py3-django); 7 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 7, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2021-3281
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-3281 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (python-django), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-3281
gentoo normal CVE-2021-3281: 1 GLSA(s) (202509-03), 1 atom(s) (dev-python/django); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2021-3281
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-3281
suse medium CVE-2021-3281 severity moderate: SUSE including 104 source package names (ardana-db-9.0+git.1611600773.5f1de5f-3.22.1, ardana-horizon-8.0+git.1610733160.0f577f4-3.21.1, …), 207 product×package rows across 6 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE OpenStack Cloud 7, … (6 product lines)): Fixed 207. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-3281/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-3281 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (python-django), 6 status rows across 6 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 6. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-3281

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-3281

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
djangoproject django >= 2.2, < 2.2.18 cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
djangoproject django >= 3.0, < 3.0.12 cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
djangoproject django >= 3.1, < 3.1.6 cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 33 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp snapcenter — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:snapcenter:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-3281

cvelogic Threat Intelligence