How severe is CVE-2023-36821?

CVE-2023-36821 has a CVSS score of 8.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-36821?

CVE-2023-36821 affects the following packages: uptime-kuma (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix CVE-2023-36821?

Update uptime-kuma to 1.22.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-36821 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-36821 in my npm dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for uptime-kuma. 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.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-36821 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against CVE-2023-36821?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-36821 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2023-36821 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2023-36821, 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-2023-36821?

CVE-2023-36821 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.7%, placing it in the 74th 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-2023-36821?

CVE-2023-36821 is classified as Improper Input Validation (CWE-20). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2023-36821 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-36821 was published on July 5, 2023 and was last updated on April 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦 npm

CVE-2023-36821

HIGH

Uptime Kuma vulnerable to authenticated remote code execution via malicious plugin installation

Also known asGHSA-7grx-f945-mj96

Published

Jul 5, 2023

Updated

Apr 10, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

1 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.7%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk74th percentile-0.82%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Blast Radius

1 pkg affected

Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.

uptime-kumanpm

53downloads / week

Description

Uptime Kuma, a self-hosted monitoring tool, allows an authenticated attacker to install a maliciously crafted plugin in versions prior to 1.22.1, which may lead to remote code execution. Uptime Kuma allows authenticated users to install plugins from an official list of plugins. This feature is currently disabled in the web interface, but the corresponding API endpoints are still available after login. After downloading a plugin, it's installed by calling npm install in the installation directory of the plugin. Because the plugin is not validated against the official list of plugins or installed with npm install --ignore-scripts, a maliciously crafted plugin taking advantage of npm scripts can gain remote code execution. Version 1.22.1 contains a patch for this issue.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`uptime-kuma`	all versions	1.22.1

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.

Uptime Kuma, a self-hosted monitoring tool, allows an authenticated atta…

github.comNVDJul 2023

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for uptime-kuma. 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 uptime-kuma to 1.22.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-36821 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-2023-36821 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-2023-36821. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Uptime Kuma, a self-hosted monitoring tool, allows an authenticated attacker to install a maliciously crafted plugin in versions prior to 1.22.1, which may lead to remote code execution. Uptime Kuma allows authenticated users to install plugins from an official list of plugins. This feature is currently disabled in the web interface, but the corresponding API endpoints are still available after login. After downloading a plugin, it's installed by calling `npm install` in the installation directory of the plugin. Because the plugin is not validated against the official list of plugins or instal

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2023-36821 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2023-36821 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

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