CVE-2024-21891

Node.js depends on multiple built-in utility functions to normalize paths provided to node:fs functions, which can be overwitten with user-defined implementations leading to filesystem permission model bypass through path traversal attack. This vulnerability affects all users using the experimental permission model in Node.js 20 and Node.js 21. Please note that at the time this CVE was issued, the permission model is an experimental feature of Node.js.

Published: 2024-02-19 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-21891 is rated Moderate Risk (59.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.24%). EPSS rose +1.07% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Review affected assets and schedule 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-2024-21891

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 0.17% 1.24% +1.07%
2 2026-03-04 0.10% 0.17% +0.07%
3 2026-03-01 — 0.10% —

Full EPSS history (36 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-21891

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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.
 2.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.9 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
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:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.5 5.8 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-21891

OS Trackers for CVE-2024-21891

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2024-21891: 1 source package rows (nodejs); 7 state rows across 2 repos (3.19-main, edge-main); fixed 0, open 7. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2024-21891
debian unimportant CVE-2024-21891 unimportant 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-2024-21891
gentoo high CVE-2024-21891: 1 GLSA(s) (202505-11), 1 atom(s) (net-libs/nodejs); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2024-21891
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-21891
suse high CVE-2024-21891 severity important: SUSE including 65 source package names (20-6.12:nodejs20-20.11.1-150500.11.6.1, 20-6.12:npm20-20.11.1-150500.11.6.1, …), 247 product×package rows across 26 product lines (Container bci/nodejs, SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, … (26 product lines)): Known Not Affected 210, Fixed 37. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-21891/
ubuntu medium CVE-2024-21891 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (nodejs), 10 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 9, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-21891

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-21891

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
nodejs node.js >= 20.0.0, < 20.11.1 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 21.0.0, < 21.6.2 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-21891

URL Tags
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/03/11/1 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://hackerone.com/reports/2259914 Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240315-0005/ Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence