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CVE-2021-21363

Generator Web Application: Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability via System Temp Directory

5.3 MediumFix available

swagger-codegen is an open-source project which contains a template-driven engine to generate documentation, API clients and server stubs in different languages by parsing your OpenAPI / Swagger definition. In swagger-codegen before version 2.4.19, on Unix like systems, the system's temporary directory is shared between all users on that system. A collocated user can observe the process of creating a temporary sub directory in the shared temporary directory and race to complete the creation of the temporary subdirectory. This vulnerability is local privilege escalation because the contents of the outputFolder can be appended to by an attacker. As such, code written to this directory, when executed can be attacker controlled. For more details refer to the referenced GitHub Security Advisory. This vulnerability is fixed in version 2.4.19. Note this is a distinct vulnerability from CVE-2021-21364.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
Required

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

0.41%Up 0.1 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 5.3

Generator Web Application: Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability via System Temp Directory

swagger-codegen is an open-source project which contains a template-driven engine to generate documentation, API clients and server stubs in different languages by parsing your OpenAPI / Swagger definition. In swagger-codegen before version 2.4.19, on Unix like systems, the system's temporary directory is shared between all users on that system. A collocated user can observe the process of creating a temporary sub directory in the shared temporary directory and race to complete the creation of the temporary subdirectory. This vulnerability is local privilege escalation because the contents of the outputFolder can be appended to by an attacker. As such, code written to this directory, when executed can be attacker controlled. For more details refer to the referenced GitHub Security Advisory. This vulnerability is fixed in version 2.4.19. Note this is a distinct vulnerability from CVE-2021-21364.

Record
CVE-2021-21363
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-379, CWE-378
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-0688 5.3

swagger-codegen is an open-source project which contains a template-driven engine to generate documentation, API clients and server stubs in different languages by parsing your OpenAPI / Swagger definition. In swagger-codegen before version 2.4.19, on Unix like systems, the system's temporary directory is shared between all users on that system. A collocated user can observe the process of creating a temporary sub directory in the shared temporary directory and race to complete the creation of the temporary subdirectory. This vulnerability is local privilege escalation because the contents of the outputFolder can be appended to by an attacker. As such, code written to this directory, when executed can be attacker controlled. For more details refer to the referenced GitHub Security Advisory. This vulnerability is fixed in version 2.4.19. Note this is a distinct vulnerability from CVE-2021-21364.

Record
EUVD-2021-0688
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-pc22-3g76-gm6j 9.3

Generator Web Application: Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability via System Temp Directory

Impact

On Unix like systems, the system's temporary directory is shared between all users on that system. A collocated user can observe the process of creating a temporary sub directory in the shared temporary directory and race to complete the creation of the temporary subdirectory.

This vulnerability is local privilege escalation because the contents of the outputFolder can be appended to by an attacker. As such, code written to this directory, when executed can be attacker controlled.

Java Code

The method File.createTempFile from the JDK is vulnerable to this local information disclosure vulnerability.

https://github.com/swagger-api/swagger-codegen/blob/068b1ebcb7b04a48ad38f1cadd24bb3810c9f1ab/modules/swagger-generator/src/main/java/io/swagger/generator/online/Generator.java#L174-L185

Patches

Fix has been applied to the master branch with:

included in release: 2.4.19

References

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Original vulnerability report

I'm performing OSS security research under the GitHub Security Lab Bug Bounty program. I've been using a custom CodeQL query to find local temporary directory vulnerabilities in OSS with three custom CodeQL queries.

The code generated by the Swagger Generator contains a local information disclosure vulnerability. The system temporary directory, on unix-like systems is shared between multiple users. Information written to this directory, or directories created under this directory that do not correctly set the posix standard permissions can have these directories read/modified by other users.


This vulnerability exists in the maven plugin.

This vulnerability is distinctly different. This vulnerability is most likely a local privilege escalation vulnerability.

https://github.com/swagger-api/swagger-codegen/blob/068b1ebcb7b04a48ad38f1cadd24bb3810c9f1ab/modules/swagger-generator/src/main/java/io/swagger/generator/online/Generator.java#L174-L185

This vulnerability is very similar to this similar vulnerability I disclosed in the Eclipse Jetty project.

https://github.com/eclipse/jetty.project/security/advisories/GHSA-g3wg-6mcf-8jj6

This is due to a race condition between the call to delete and the call to mkdirs.

// ensure file will always be unique by appending random digits
File outputFolder = File.createTempFile("codegen-", "-tmp"); // Attacker knows the full path of the file that will be generated
// delete the file that was created
outputFolder.delete(); // Attacker sees file is deleted and begins a race to create their own directory before Swagger Code Generator.
// and make a directory of the same name
// SECURITY VULNERABILITY: Race Condition! - Attacker beats Swagger Code Generator and now owns this directory
outputFolder.mkdirs();

This vulnerability is local privilege escalation because the contents of the outputFolder can be appended to by an attacker. As such, code written to this directory, when executed can be attacker controlled.

The fix here is to switch to the Files API for creating temporary directories. Which does not contain this race condition, and appropriately sets the correct file permissions.

Record
GHSA-pc22-3g76-gm6j
CVSS 3.1
9.3 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-378, CWE-379
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 5.3

swagger-codegen is an open-source project which contains a template-driven engine to generate documentation, API clients and server stubs in different languages by parsing your OpenAPI / Swagger definition. In swagger-codegen before version 2.4.19, on Unix like systems, the system's temporary directory is shared between all users on that system. A collocated user can observe the process of creating a temporary sub directory in the shared temporary directory and race to complete the creation of the temporary subdirectory. This vulnerability is local privilege escalation because the contents of the outputFolder can be appended to by an attacker. As such, code written to this directory, when executed can be attacker controlled. For more details refer to the referenced GitHub Security Advisory. This vulnerability is fixed in version 2.4.19. Note this is a distinct vulnerability from CVE-2021-21364.

Record
CVE-2021-21363
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
CVSS 3.1
7.0 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0
4.4 MediumAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Weakness
CWE-378, CWE-379
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 7.0

swagger-codegen is an open-source project which contains a template-driven engine to generate documentation, API clients and server stubs in different languages by parsing your OpenAPI / Swagger definition. In swagger-codegen before version 2.4.19, on Unix like systems, the system's temporary directory is shared between all users on that system. A collocated user can observe the process of creating a temporary sub directory in the shared temporary directory and race to complete the creation of the temporary subdirectory. This vulnerability is local privilege escalation because the contents of the outputFolder can be appended to by an attacker. As such, code written to this directory, when executed can be attacker controlled. For more details refer to the referenced GitHub Security Advisory. This vulnerability is fixed in version 2.4.19. Note this is a distinct vulnerability from CVE-2021-21364.

Record
CVE-2021-21363
CVSS 3.1
7.0 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-pc22-3g76-gm6j 9.3

Generator Web Application: Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability via System Temp Directory

Impact

On Unix like systems, the system's temporary directory is shared between all users on that system. A collocated user can observe the process of creating a temporary sub directory in the shared temporary directory and race to complete the creation of the temporary subdirectory.

This vulnerability is local privilege escalation because the contents of the outputFolder can be appended to by an attacker. As such, code written to this directory, when executed can be attacker controlled.

Java Code

The method File.createTempFile from the JDK is vulnerable to this local information disclosure vulnerability.

https://github.com/swagger-api/swagger-codegen/blob/068b1ebcb7b04a48ad38f1cadd24bb3810c9f1ab/modules/swagger-generator/src/main/java/io/swagger/generator/online/Generator.java#L174-L185

Patches

Fix has been applied to the master branch with:

included in release: 2.4.19

References

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Original vulnerability report

I'm performing OSS security research under the GitHub Security Lab Bug Bounty program. I've been using a custom CodeQL query to find local temporary directory vulnerabilities in OSS with three custom CodeQL queries.

The code generated by the Swagger Generator contains a local information disclosure vulnerability. The system temporary directory, on unix-like systems is shared between multiple users. Information written to this directory, or directories created under this directory that do not correctly set the posix standard permissions can have these directories read/modified by other users.


This vulnerability exists in the maven plugin.

This vulnerability is distinctly different. This vulnerability is most likely a local privilege escalation vulnerability.

https://github.com/swagger-api/swagger-codegen/blob/068b1ebcb7b04a48ad38f1cadd24bb3810c9f1ab/modules/swagger-generator/src/main/java/io/swagger/generator/online/Generator.java#L174-L185

This vulnerability is very similar to this similar vulnerability I disclosed in the Eclipse Jetty project.

https://github.com/eclipse/jetty.project/security/advisories/GHSA-g3wg-6mcf-8jj6

This is due to a race condition between the call to delete and the call to mkdirs.

// ensure file will always be unique by appending random digits
File outputFolder = File.createTempFile("codegen-", "-tmp"); // Attacker knows the full path of the file that will be generated
// delete the file that was created
outputFolder.delete(); // Attacker sees file is deleted and begins a race to create their own directory before Swagger Code Generator.
// and make a directory of the same name
// SECURITY VULNERABILITY: Race Condition! - Attacker beats Swagger Code Generator and now owns this directory
outputFolder.mkdirs();

This vulnerability is local privilege escalation because the contents of the outputFolder can be appended to by an attacker. As such, code written to this directory, when executed can be attacker controlled.

The fix here is to switch to the Files API for creating temporary directories. Which does not contain this race condition, and appropriately sets the correct file permissions.

Record
GHSA-pc22-3g76-gm6j
CVSS 3.1
9.3 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-378, CWE-379
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
io.swagger:swagger-codegen
Maven
before 2.4.19
2.4.19
io.swagger:swagger-codegen
Maven
before 2.4.19, plus listed versions
2.1.12.1.22.1.32.1.42.1.5
Show 26 moreShow less
2.1.62.2.02.2.12.2.22.2.32.3.02.3.12.4.02.4.12.4.102.4.112.4.122.4.132.4.142.4.152.4.162.4.172.4.182.4.22.4.32.4.42.4.52.4.62.4.72.4.82.4.9
2.4.19

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2021-21363 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.3) in Smartbear Swagger-codegen, published March 11, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.41%, the 35th percentile. Fixed in io.swagger:swagger-codegen 2.4.19.

References

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