CVE-2021-32808 — ckeditor4
MEDIUMCVE-2021-32808 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in ckeditor4. A fix is available for ckeditor4 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Widget feature vulnerability allowing to execute JavaScript code using undo functionality
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-32808 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.
ckeditor4npmDescription
Affected packages
The vulnerability has been discovered in Widget plugin if used alongside Undo feature.
Impact
A potential vulnerability has been discovered in CKEditor 4 Widget package. The vulnerability allowed to abuse undo functionality using malformed widget HTML, which could result in executing JavaScript code. It affects all users using the CKEditor 4 plugins listed above at version >= 4.13.0.
Patches
The problem has been recognized and patched. The fix will be available in version 4.16.2.
For more information
Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments about this advisory.
Acknowledgements
The CKEditor 4 team would like to thank Anton Subbotin (skavans) for recognizing and reporting this vulnerability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | ckeditor4 | ≥ 4.13.0&&< 4.16.2 | 4.16.2npm install ckeditor4@4.16.2 |
Affected Products
ckeditorckeditorfedorafedoraprojectapplication expressoraclebanking party managementoraclecommerce guided searchoraclecommerce merchandisingoracleDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ckeditor4, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update ckeditor4 to 4.16.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-32808 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
Is CVE-2021-32808 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.