How severe is CVE-2021-32682?

CVE-2021-32682 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-32682?

CVE-2021-32682 affects the following packages: studio-42/elfinder (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix CVE-2021-32682?

Update studio-42/elfinder to 2.1.59 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-32682 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2021-32682 in my Packagist dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for studio-42/elfinder, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-32682 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-2021-32682 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 3 known exploit references for CVE-2021-32682, including 3 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-2021-32682?

CVE-2021-32682 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 69.9%, placing it in the 99th 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-2021-32682?

CVE-2021-32682 is classified as Path Traversal (CWE-22), OS Command Injection (CWE-78), Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) (CWE-918). These weakness types 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-2021-32682?

A Nuclei detection template exists for CVE-2021-32682, 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-2021-32682 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-32682 was published on June 14, 2021 and was last updated on August 7, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐘

🐘 Packagist

Not in CISA KEV

CRITICAL severity

CVE-2021-32682 — elfinder

CRITICALFix: Studio-42/elFinder@a106c35

CVE-2021-32682 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Path Traversal vulnerability in studio-42/elfinder. 3 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for studio-42/elfinder — see the affected versions and patch details below.

elFinder before 2.1.59 contains multiple vulnerabilities leading to RCE

Also known asGHSA-wph3-44rj-92pr

Published

Jun 14, 2021

Updated

Aug 7, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

3 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 9, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

69.9%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs99th percentile — riskier than 99% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-32682 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 385,386 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 50–90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐘studio-42/elfinder

Real-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

Impact

We recently fixed several vulnerabilities affect elFinder 2.1.58. These vulnerabilities can allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code and commands on the server hosting the elFinder PHP connector, even with the minimal configuration.

Patches

The issues were addressed in our last release, 2.1.59.

Workarounds

If you can't update to 2.1.59, make sure your connector is not exposed without authentication.

Reference

Further technical details will be disclosed on https://blog.sonarsource.com/tag/security after some time.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, you can contact: - The original reporters, by sending an email to [email protected]; - The maintainers, by opening an issue on this repository.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`studio-42/elfinder`	all versions	2.1.59`composer require studio-42/elfinder:^2.1.59`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

elfinderstd42

< 2.1.59

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.

elFinder is an open-source file manager for web, written in JavaScript u…

github.comMetasploitSep 2021

elFinder is an open-source file manager for web, written in JavaScript u…

packetstormsecurity.comNVDSep 2021

elFinder is an open-source file manager for web, written in JavaScript u…

blog.sonarsource.comNVDNov 2022

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for studio-42/elfinder, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update studio-42/elfinder to 2.1.59 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-32682 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
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.

How to detect CVE-2021-32682

A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:

nuclei -id cve-2021-32682 -u https://target

Template: elFinder 2.1.58 - Remote Code Execution
Severity: critical
Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.
Remediation: Update to elFinder 2.1.59 or later. As a workaround, ensure the connector is not exposed without authentication.

Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (smaranchand), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact We recently fixed several vulnerabilities affect elFinder 2.1.58. These vulnerabilities can allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code and commands on the server hosting the elFinder PHP connector, even with the minimal configuration. ### Patches The issues were addressed in our last release, 2.1.59. ### Workarounds If you can't update to 2.1.59, make sure your connector is not exposed without authentication. ### Reference Further technical details will be disclosed on https://blog.sonarsource.com/tag/security after some time. ### For more information If you have any que