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CVE-2021-22921

Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource in Node

7.8 HighFix available

Node.js before 16.4.1, 14.17.2, and 12.22.2 is vulnerable to local privilege escalation attacks under certain conditions on Windows platforms. More specifically, improper configuration of permissions in the installation directory allows an attacker to perform two different escalation attacks: PATH and DLL hijacking.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
Required

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

7.41%Up 7.1 points since Jul 13, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 7.8

Node.js before 16.4.1, 14.17.2, and 12.22.2 is vulnerable to local privilege escalation attacks under certain conditions on Windows platforms. More specifically, improper configuration of permissions in the installation directory allows an attacker to perform two different escalation attacks: PATH and DLL hijacking.

Record
CVE-2021-22921
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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-732
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

Node.js before 16.4.1, 14.17.2, and 12.22.2 is vulnerable to local privilege escalation attacks under certain conditions on Windows platforms. More specifically, improper configuration of permissions in the installation directory allows an attacker to perform two different escalation attacks: PATH and DLL hijacking.

Record
CVE-2021-22921
Weakness
CWE-732
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-10050 No score

Node.js before 16.4.1, 14.17.2, and 12.22.2 is vulnerable to local privilege escalation attacks under certain conditions on Windows platforms. More specifically, improper configuration of permissions in the installation directory allows an attacker to perform two different escalation attacks: PATH and DLL hijacking.

Record
EUVD-2021-10050
Updated
2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-g3w9-g82h-cmp4 7.8

Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource in Node

Node.js before 16.4.1, 14.17.2, and 12.22.2 is vulnerable to local privilege escalation attacks under certain conditions on Windows platforms. More specifically, improper configuration of permissions in the installation directory allows an attacker to perform two different escalation attacks: PATH and DLL hijacking.

Record
GHSA-g3w9-g82h-cmp4
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-732
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 7.8

Node.js before 16.4.1, 14.17.2, and 12.22.2 is vulnerable to local privilege escalation attacks under certain conditions on Windows platforms. More specifically, improper configuration of permissions in the installation directory allows an attacker to perform two different escalation attacks: PATH and DLL hijacking.

Record
CVE-2021-22921
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVOESA-2022-1620 8.2

nodejs security update

Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications. Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient, perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.

Security Fix(es):

An issue was discovered in ajv.validate() in Ajv (aka Another JSON Schema Validator) 6.12.2. A carefully crafted JSON schema could be provided that allows execution of other code by prototype pollution. (While untrusted schemas are recommended against, the worst case of an untrusted schema should be a denial of service, not execution of code.)(CVE-2020-15366)

The X509_V_FLAG_X509_STRICT flag enables additional security checks of the certificates present in a certificate chain. It is not set by default. Starting from OpenSSL version 1.1.1h a check to disallow certificates in the chain that have explicitly encoded elliptic curve parameters was added as an additional strict check. An error in the implementation of this check meant that the result of a previous check to confirm that certificates in the chain are valid CA certificates was overwritten. This effectively bypasses the check that non-CA certificates must not be able to issue other certificates. If a "purpose" has been configured then there is a subsequent opportunity for checks that the certificate is a valid CA. All of the named "purpose" values implemented in libcrypto perform this check. Therefore, where a purpose is set the certificate chain will still be rejected even when the strict flag has been used. A purpose is set by default in libssl client and server certificate verification routines, but it can be overridden or removed by an application. In order to be affected, an application must explicitly set the X509_V_FLAG_X509_STRICT verification flag and either not set a purpose for the certificate verification or, in the case of TLS client or server applications, override the default purpose. OpenSSL versions 1.1.1h and newer are affected by this issue. Users of these versions should upgrade to OpenSSL 1.1.1k. OpenSSL 1.0.2 is not impacted by this issue. Fixed in OpenSSL 1.1.1k (Affected 1.1.1h-1.1.1j).(CVE-2021-3450)

Node.js < 12.22.9, < 14.18.3, < 16.13.2, and < 17.3.1 converts SANs (Subject Alternative Names) to a string format. It uses this string to check peer certificates against hostnames when validating connections. The string format was subject to an injection vulnerability when name constraints were used within a certificate chain, allowing the bypass of these name constraints.Versions of Node.js with the fix for this escape SANs containing the problematic characters in order to prevent the injection. This behavior can be reverted through the --security-revert command-line option.(CVE-2021-44532)

Node.js < 12.22.9, < 14.18.3, < 16.13.2, and < 17.3.1 did not handle multi-value Relative Distinguished Names correctly. Attackers could craft certificate subjects containing a single-value Relative Distinguished Name that would be interpreted as a multi-value Relative Distinguished Name, for example, in order to inject a Common Name that would allow bypassing the certificate subject verification.Affected versions of Node.js that do not accept multi-value Relative Distinguished Names and are thus not vulnerable to such attacks themselves. However, third-party code that uses node's ambiguous presentation of certificate subjects may be vulnerable.(CVE-2021-44533)

Accepting arbitrary Subject Alternative Name (SAN) types, unless a PKI is specifically defined to use a particular SAN type, can result in bypassing name-constrained intermediates. Node.js < 12.22.9, < 14.18.3, < 16.13.2, and < 17.3.1 was accepting URI SAN types, which PKIs are often not defined to use. Additionally, when a protocol allows URI SANs, Node.js did not match the URI correctly.Versions of Node.js…

Record
OESA-2022-1620
CVSS 3.1
8.2 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVBIT-node-2021-22921 No score

Node.js before 16.4.1, 14.17.2, and 12.22.2 is vulnerable to local privilege escalation attacks under certain conditions on Windows platforms. More specifically, improper configuration of permissions in the installation directory allows an attacker to perform two different escalation attacks: PATH and DLL hijacking.

Record
BIT-node-2021-22921
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVBIT-node-min-2021-22921 No score

Node.js before 16.4.1, 14.17.2, and 12.22.2 is vulnerable to local privilege escalation attacks under certain conditions on Windows platforms. More specifically, improper configuration of permissions in the installation directory allows an attacker to perform two different escalation attacks: PATH and DLL hijacking.

Record
BIT-node-min-2021-22921
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
node
Bitnami
12.0.0 up to 12.22.2, 14.0.0 up to 14.17.2, 16.0.0 up to 16.4.1
12.22.214.17.216.4.1
node-min
Bitnami
12.0.0 up to 12.22.2, 14.0.0 up to 14.17.2, 16.0.0 up to 16.4.1
12.22.214.17.216.4.1
nodejs
openEuler:20.03-LTS-SP1
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
before 12.22.11-1.oe1
12.22.11-1.oe1
nodejs
openEuler:20.03-LTS-SP2
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
before 12.22.11-1.oe1
12.22.11-1.oe1
nodejs
openEuler:20.03-LTS-SP3
From an advisory covering 12 CVEs
before 12.22.11-1.oe1
12.22.11-1.oe1

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected, facts
first indexedCVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

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

In short

CVE-2021-22921 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Nodejs Node, published July 12, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 7.41%, the 94th percentile. Fixed in node 12.22.2.

References

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Left out here: the rest of 1 source description. The JSON record has them.

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