CVE-2021-3223 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in node-red-dashboard. EPSS puts its 30-day exploitation probability at 18.9% (97th percentile). A fix is available for node-red-dashboard — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Path traversal in Node-RED-Dashboard
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, a proxy for how much of the ecosystem is exposed.
node-red-dashboardnpmDescription
In Node-RED-Dashboard before 2.26.2 there is a path traversal vulnerability. It allows ui_base/js/..%2f directory traversal to read files.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | node-red-dashboard | all versions | 2.26.2npm install node-red-dashboard@2.26.2 |
Affected Products
node-red-dashboardnoderedDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for node-red-dashboard, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update node-red-dashboard to 2.26.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-3223 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.
How to detect CVE-2021-3223
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id cve-2021-3223 -u https://target- Template
- Node RED Dashboard <2.26.2 - Local File Inclusion
- Severity
- high
- Impact
- An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to access sensitive information, such as configuration files, credentials, or other sensitive data stored on the server.
- Remediation
- Upgrade Node RED Dashboard to version 2.26.2 or later to mitigate the vulnerability.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (gy741, pikpikcu), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-3223 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.