CVE-2021-43798 | Grafana path traversal

Exp

Grafana is an open-source platform for monitoring and observability. Grafana versions 8.0.0-beta1 through 8.3.0 (except for patched versions) iss vulnerable to directory traversal, allowing access to local files. The vulnerable URL path is: `<grafana_host_url>/public/plugins//`, where is the plugin ID for any installed plugin. At no time has Grafana Cloud been vulnerable. Users are advised to upgrade to patched versions 8.0.7, 8.1.8, 8.2.7, or 8.3.1. The GitHub Security Advisory contains more information about vulnerable URL paths, mitigation, and the disclosure timeline.

Published: 2021-12-07 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-43798 is rated Critical Active Threat (84.9/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 88.85%, 100th percentile). Core evidence: CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2025-10-09) affecting Grafana Labs / Grafana. a weakness (CWE-22) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. Mandatory action: The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2021-43798

Name: Grafana Path Traversal Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2025-10-09

Action due: 2025-10-30

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2021-43798

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
50581 exploit_db edb 2021-12-09 Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-43798

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 94.44% 88.85% -5.59%
2 2025-11-21 93.81% 94.44% +0.63%
3 2025-11-18 93.81%

Full EPSS history (36 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-43798

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:H/I:N/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/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:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-43798

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-43798

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-43798

vendor priority summary link
alpine CVE-2021-43798: 1 source package rows (grafana); 9 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 2. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2021-43798
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-43798
suse high https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-43798/
ubuntu high CVE-2021-43798 high priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (grafana), 15 status rows across 15 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 12, ignored 1, needs-triage 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-43798

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-43798

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
grafana grafana >= 8.0.1, < 8.0.7 cpe:2.3:a:grafana:grafana:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
grafana grafana >= 8.1.0, < 8.1.8 cpe:2.3:a:grafana:grafana:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
grafana grafana >= 8.2.0, < 8.2.7 cpe:2.3:a:grafana:grafana:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
grafana grafana 8.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:grafana:grafana:8.0.0:beta1:*:*:*:*:*:*
grafana grafana 8.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:grafana:grafana:8.0.0:beta2:*:*:*:*:*:*
grafana grafana 8.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:grafana:grafana:8.0.0:beta3:*:*:*:*:*:*
grafana grafana 8.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:grafana:grafana:8.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-43798

URL Tags
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165198/Grafana-Arbitrary-File-Reading.html Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165221/Grafana-8.3.0-Directory-Traversal-Arbitrary-File-Read.html Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/12/09/2 Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/12/10/4 Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/grafana/grafana/commit/c798c0e958d15d9cc7f27c72113d572fa58545ce Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/grafana/grafana/security/advisories/GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47p Patch Vendor Advisory
https://grafana.com/blog/2021/12/08/an-update-on-0day-cve-2021-43798-grafana-directory-traversal/ Vendor Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20211229-0004/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-43798 US Government Resource
cvelogic Threat Intelligence