CVE-2021-3281
MEDIUMCVE-2021-3281 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) Path Traversal vulnerability in django. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2021-3281 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Django Directory Traversal via archive.extract
Real-World Exposure
django🐍django🐍djangoReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
In Django 2.2 before 2.2.18, 3.0 before 3.0.12, and 3.1 before 3.1.6, the django.utils.archive.extract method (used by "startapp --template" and "startproject --template") allows directory traversal via an archive with absolute paths or relative paths with dot segments.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | django | ≥ 2.2&&< 2.2.18 | 2.2.18 |
| 🐍PyPI | django | ≥ 3.1&&< 3.1.6 | 3.1.6 |
| 🐍PyPI | django | ≥ 3.0&&< 3.0.12 | 3.0.12 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for django. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update django to 2.2.18 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-3281 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2021-3281 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2021-3281. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
The following products ship affected version of python-django, however the vulnerable function archive.extract() is currently not used in any part of the product and hence this issue has been rated as having a security impact of Low: * Red Hat Gluster Storage 3 * Red Hat Update Infrastructure 3 Because the flaw's…
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-3281 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2021-3281 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.