How severe is CVE-2021-45919?

CVE-2021-45919 has a CVSS score of 5.4/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-45919?

CVE-2021-45919 affects the following packages: studio-42/elfinder (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix CVE-2021-45919?

No patched version of studio-42/elfinder has shipped for CVE-2021-45919 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.

How do I detect CVE-2021-45919 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-2021-45919 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-2021-45919 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2021-45919, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation 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-2021-45919?

CVE-2021-45919 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.6%, placing it in the 48th 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-2021-45919?

CVE-2021-45919 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-2021-45919 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-45919 was published on February 8, 2022 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

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2021-45919 — elfinder

MEDIUM

CVE-2021-45919 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in studio-42/elfinder. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.

Studio 42 elFinder allows stored XSS

Also known asGHSA-c3j8-q5x6-2855

Published

Feb 8, 2022

Updated

Aug 7, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

See advisory

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 5, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs48th percentile — riskier than 48% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-45919 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

🐘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

Studio 42 elFinder through 2.1.31 allows XSS via an SVG document.

Affected Packages

1 total

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`studio-42/elfinder`	all versions	No fix

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

elfinderstd42

≤ 2.1.31

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.

Studio 42 elFinder through 2.1.31 allows XSS via an SVG document.

trustwave.comNVDFeb 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.
Remediation status
No patched version of studio-42/elfinder has shipped for CVE-2021-45919 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
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

Studio 42 elFinder through 2.1.31 allows XSS via an SVG document.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2021-45919 in your dependencies?

Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

5.4/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

Low

Availability

None

Raw vector

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

CWE Classification

CWE-79Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

Timeline

Disclosed

Feb 8, 2022

First exploit

Feb 11, 2022

3 days after disclosure — rapid exploitation

Last updated

Aug 7, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2021-45919

GHSA-c3j8-q5x6-2855

References

Advisorynvd.nist.gov Webtrustwave.com Evidencetrustwave.com

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is medium severity; 8 of 8 other CVEs affecting studio-42/elfinder are rated as high or higher (top: critical).

CVE-2026-81890CVE-2026-81889CVE-2026-44521CVE-2026-41247CVE-2024-38909CVE-2023-35840CVE-2019-6257CVE-2019-9194

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedAug 7, 2026

CVE-2021-45919 — elfinder

EPSS Exploitation Probability

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

Description

Affected Packages

Affected Products

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Remediation status

Mitigate without a patch

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CVE-2021-45919 in your dependencies?