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 18.5% (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
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-2021-3223 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 379,842 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
node-red-dashboardReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects npm packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
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 |
Detection & 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 O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2021-3223 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2021-3223. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
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?
O3 Security finds CVE-2021-3223 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.