CVE-2021-23445 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in datatables.net. 3 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for datatables.net — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Cross site scripting in datatables.net
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2021-23445.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-23445 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
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.
datatables.netnpmDescription
This affects the package datatables.net before 1.11.3. If an array is passed to the HTML escape entities function it would not have its contents escaped.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | datatables.net | all versions | 1.11.3npm install datatables.net@1.11.3 |
Affected Products
datatables.netdatatablesResearch 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 datatables.net, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update datatables.net to 1.11.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-23445 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
The improper neutralization of input vulnerability in DataTables.net is considered a moderate severity issue because, while it allows for potential cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, it requires specific conditions to be exploited effectively. An attacker must have the ability to inject malicious input into the…
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2021-23445 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform | org.jboss.hal/hal-console:3.3.22.Final-redhat-00001 | RHSA-2024:3563 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 for RHEL 8 | eap7-apache-cxf-0:3.5.8-1.redhat_00001.1.el8eap | RHSA-2024:3560 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 for RHEL 9 | eap7-apache-cxf-0:3.5.8-1.redhat_00001.1.el9eap | RHSA-2024:3561 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 on RHEL 7 | eap7-hal-console-0:3.3.22-1.Final_redhat_00001.1.el7eap | RHSA-2024:3559 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-23445 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.