CVE-2024-21511 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Code Injection vulnerability in mysql2. A fix is available for mysql2 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
MySQL2 for Node Arbitrary Code Injection
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-21511.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
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.
mysql2npmDescription
Versions of the package mysql2 before 3.9.7 are vulnerable to Arbitrary Code Injection due to improper sanitization of the timezone parameter in the readCodeFor function by calling a native MySQL Server date/time function.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | mysql2 | all versions | 3.9.7npm install mysql2@3.9.7 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for mysql2, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update mysql2 to 3.9.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-21511 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-21511 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.