CVE-2021-22968 — concrete5/core
HIGHCVE-2021-22968 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.2) CWE-98 vulnerability in concrete5/core. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for concrete5/core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper file handling in concrete5/core
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-22968 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,567 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
concrete5/coreReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
A bypass of adding remote files in Concrete CMS (previously concrete5) File Manager leads to remote code execution in Concrete CMS (concrete5) versions 8.5.6 and below.The external file upload feature stages files in the public directory even if they have disallowed file extensions. They are stored in a directory with a random name, but it's possible to stall the uploads and brute force the directory name. You have to be an admin with the ability to upload files, but this bug gives you the ability to upload restricted file types and execute them depending on server configuration.To fix this, a check for allowed file extensions was added before downloading files to a tmp directory.Concrete CMS Security Team gave this a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.4 AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:NThis fix is also in Concrete version 9.0.0
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | concrete5/core | all versions | 8.5.7composer require concrete5/core:^8.5.7 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for concrete5/core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update concrete5/core to 8.5.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-22968 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2021-22968 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2021-22968. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-22968 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2021-22968 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.