How severe is CVE-2021-3271?

CVE-2021-3271 has a CVSS score of 4.8/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-3271?

CVE-2021-3271 affects the following packages: pressbooks/pressbooks (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix CVE-2021-3271?

Update pressbooks/pressbooks to 5.18.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-3271 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2021-3271 in my Packagist dependencies?

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

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-3271 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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.

Is CVE-2021-3271 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 2 known exploit references for CVE-2021-3271, including 2 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-2021-3271?

CVE-2021-3271 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.9%, placing it in the 59th 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. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2021-3271?

CVE-2021-3271 is classified as Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79). This weakness type 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.

When was CVE-2021-3271 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-3271 was published on February 18, 2021 and was last updated on July 9, 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

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2021-3271 — pressbooks

MEDIUMFix: pressbooks/pressbooks#2072

CVE-2021-3271 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.8) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in pressbooks/pressbooks. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for pressbooks/pressbooks — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Stored cross-site scripting in PressBooks

Also known asGHSA-9652-78hp-w58c

Published

Feb 18, 2021

Updated

Jul 9, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

2 known

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

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.9%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs59th percentile — riskier than 59% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-3271 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 385,987 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐘pressbooks/pressbooks

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

PressBooks 5.17.3 contains a cross-site scripting (XSS). Stored XSS can be submitted via the Book Info's Long Description Body, and all actions to open or preview the books page will result in the triggering the stored XSS.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`pressbooks/pressbooks`	all versions	5.18.0`composer require pressbooks/pressbooks:^5.18.0`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

pressbookspressbooks

≤ 5.17.3

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.

PressBooks 5.17.3 contains a cross-site scripting (XSS). Stored XSS can …

github.comNVDFeb 2021

PressBooks 5.17.3 contains a cross-site scripting (XSS). Stored XSS can …

gosecure.netNVDFeb 2021

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for pressbooks/pressbooks, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update pressbooks/pressbooks to 5.18.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-3271 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2021-3271 in your dependencies?

Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

4.8/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

High

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

Low

Availability

None

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CWE Classification

CWE-79Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

pressbooks

5.0/10

Code-Review10/10

Maintained10/10

Branch-Protection5/10

Assessed Oct 5, 2026

Timeline

Disclosed

Feb 18, 2021

First exploit

Feb 24, 2021

6 days after disclosure — rapid exploitation

Last updated

Jul 9, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2021-3271

GHSA-9652-78hp-w58c

References

Advisorygithub.com Advisorynvd.nist.gov Webgithub.com Webgosecure.net Evidencegithub.com Evidencegosecure.net

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is medium severity; 8 of 8 other CVEs with CWE-79 are rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2026-91127CVE-2026-77606CVE-2026-84992CVE-2026-77608CVE-2026-77607GHSA-9rcc-pmj8-ffhrCVE-2026-77616CVE-2025-61682Browse all CWE-79

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedJul 9, 2026