How severe is CVE-2021-21315?

CVE-2021-21315 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-21315?

CVE-2021-21315 affects the following packages: systeminformation (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix CVE-2021-21315?

Update systeminformation to 5.3.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-21315 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2021-21315 in my npm dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for systeminformation, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-21315 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Is CVE-2021-21315 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 7 known exploit references for CVE-2021-21315, including 5 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2021-21315?

CVE-2021-21315 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 90.7%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2021-21315?

CVE-2021-21315 is classified as OS Command Injection (CWE-78). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

Is there exploit tooling available for CVE-2021-21315?

A Nuclei detection template exists for CVE-2021-21315, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was CVE-2021-21315 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-21315 was published on February 16, 2021 and was last updated on October 20, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦

📦 npm

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2021-21315 — systeminformation

HIGHFix: sebhildebrandt/systeminformation@07daa05

CVE-2021-21315 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) OS Command Injection vulnerability in systeminformation. 7 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for systeminformation — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Command Injection Vulnerability

Also known asGHSA-2m8v-572m-ff2v

Published

Feb 16, 2021

Updated

Oct 20, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

7 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 21, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Actively exploited in the wild

CISA’s SSVC triage classifies this CVE as under active exploitation.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2021-21315.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

90.7%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs100th percentile — riskier than 100% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-21315 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 394,415 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.

1Kother npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream

systeminformationnpm

10.8Mdownloads / week

Description

The System Information Library for Node.JS (npm package "systeminformation") is an open source collection of functions to retrieve detailed hardware, system and OS information. In systeminformation before version 5.3.1 there is a command injection vulnerability. Problem was fixed in version 5.3.1. As a workaround instead of upgrading, be sure to check or sanitize service parameters that are passed to si.inetLatency(), si.inetChecksite(), si.services(), si.processLoad() ... do only allow strings, reject any arrays. String sanitation works as expected.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`systeminformation`	all versions	5.3.1`npm install systeminformation@5.3.1`

Affected Products

2 products · 2 configurations

Application

cordovaapache

1 version

10.0.0

Application

systeminformationsysteminformation

< 5.3.1

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.