CVE-2021-29484
DOM XSS in Theme Preview
Ghost is a Node.js CMS. An unused endpoint added during the development of 4.0.0 has left sites vulnerable to untrusted users gaining access to Ghost Admin. Attackers can gain access by getting logged in users to click a link containing malicious code. Users do not need to enter credentials and may not know they've visited a malicious site. Ghost(Pro) has already been patched. We can find no evidence that the issue was exploited on Ghost(Pro) prior to the patch being added. Self-hosters are impacted if running Ghost a version between 4.0.0 and 4.3.2. Immediate action should be taken to secure your site. The issue has been fixed in 4.3.3, all 4.x sites should upgrade as soon as possible. As the endpoint is unused, the patch simply removes it. As a workaround blocking access to /ghost/preview can also mitigate the issue.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
6.8
DOM XSS in Theme Preview
Ghost is a Node.js CMS. An unused endpoint added during the development of 4.0.0 has left sites vulnerable to untrusted users gaining access to Ghost Admin. Attackers can gain access by getting logged in users to click a link containing malicious code. Users do not need to enter credentials and may not know they've visited a malicious site. Ghost(Pro) has already been patched. We can find no evidence that the issue was exploited on Ghost(Pro) prior to the patch being added. Self-hosters are impacted if running Ghost a version between 4.0.0 and 4.3.2. Immediate action should be taken to secure your site. The issue has been fixed in 4.3.3, all 4.x sites should upgrade as soon as possible. As the endpoint is unused, the patch simply removes it. As a workaround blocking access to /ghost/preview can also mitigate the issue.
- Record
CVE-2021-29484- CVSS 3.1
- 6.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-0804
6.8
Ghost is a Node.js CMS. An unused endpoint added during the development of 4.0.0 has left sites vulnerable to untrusted users gaining access to Ghost Admin. Attackers can gain access by getting logged in users to click a link containing malicious code. Users do not need to enter credentials and may not know they've visited a malicious site. Ghost(Pro) has already been patched. We can find no evidence that the issue was exploited on Ghost(Pro) prior to the patch being added. Self-hosters are impacted if running Ghost a version between 4.0.0 and 4.3.2. Immediate action should be taken to secure your site. The issue has been fixed in 4.3.3, all 4.x sites should upgrade as soon as possible. As the endpoint is unused, the patch simply removes it. As a workaround blocking access to /ghost/preview can also mitigate the issue.
- Record
EUVD-2021-0804- CVSS 3.1
- 6.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-9fgx-q25h-jxrg
6.8
DOM XSS in Theme Preview
Impact
An unused endpoint added during the development of 4.0.0 has left sites vulnerable to untrusted users gaining access to Ghost Admin. Attackers can gain access by getting logged in users to click a link containing malicious code. Users do not need to enter credentials and may not know they've visited a malicious site.
Ghost(Pro) has already been patched. We can find no evidence that the issue was exploited on Ghost(Pro) prior to the patch being added.
Self-hosters are impacted if running Ghost a version between 4.0.0 and 4.3.2. Immediate action should be taken to secure your site - see patches & workarounds below.
Patches
Fixed in 4.3.3, all 4.x sites should upgrade as soon as possible. As the endpoint is unused, the patch simply removes it.
Workarounds
- Log out of Ghost Admin
- Suspend any users who cannot log out
- Block access to
/ghost/preview
Example of how to block access in nginx:
location ~ /ghost/preview {
rewrite ^(\/(.*\/)?ghost\/)(.*)$ $1 redirect;
}
This redirects the endpoint to /ghost/, which mimics the behaviour after the patch is applied.
References
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- email us at [email protected]
Credits: Paul Gerste, SonarSource (https://www.sonarsource.com/)
- Record
GHSA-9fgx-q25h-jxrg- CVSS 3.1
- 6.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
6.8
Ghost is a Node.js CMS. An unused endpoint added during the development of 4.0.0 has left sites vulnerable to untrusted users gaining access to Ghost Admin. Attackers can gain access by getting logged in users to click a link containing malicious code. Users do not need to enter credentials and may not know they've visited a malicious site. Ghost(Pro) has already been patched. We can find no evidence that the issue was exploited on Ghost(Pro) prior to the patch being added. Self-hosters are impacted if running Ghost a version between 4.0.0 and 4.3.2. Immediate action should be taken to secure your site. The issue has been fixed in 4.3.3, all 4.x sites should upgrade as soon as possible. As the endpoint is unused, the patch simply removes it. As a workaround blocking access to /ghost/preview can also mitigate the issue.
- Record
CVE-2021-29484- CVSS 3.1
- 6.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - CVSS 3.1
- 6.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 4.3 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
6.8
Ghost is a Node.js CMS. An unused endpoint added during the development of 4.0.0 has left sites vulnerable to untrusted users gaining access to Ghost Admin. Attackers can gain access by getting logged in users to click a link containing malicious code. Users do not need to enter credentials and may not know they've visited a malicious site. Ghost(Pro) has already been patched. We can find no evidence that the issue was exploited on Ghost(Pro) prior to the patch being added. Self-hosters are impacted if running Ghost a version between 4.0.0 and 4.3.2. Immediate action should be taken to secure your site. The issue has been fixed in 4.3.3, all 4.x sites should upgrade as soon as possible. As the endpoint is unused, the patch simply removes it. As a workaround blocking access to /ghost/preview can also mitigate the issue.
- Record
CVE-2021-29484- CVSS 3.1
- 6.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-9fgx-q25h-jxrg
6.8
DOM XSS in Theme Preview
Impact
An unused endpoint added during the development of 4.0.0 has left sites vulnerable to untrusted users gaining access to Ghost Admin. Attackers can gain access by getting logged in users to click a link containing malicious code. Users do not need to enter credentials and may not know they've visited a malicious site.
Ghost(Pro) has already been patched. We can find no evidence that the issue was exploited on Ghost(Pro) prior to the patch being added.
Self-hosters are impacted if running Ghost a version between 4.0.0 and 4.3.2. Immediate action should be taken to secure your site - see patches & workarounds below.
Patches
Fixed in 4.3.3, all 4.x sites should upgrade as soon as possible. As the endpoint is unused, the patch simply removes it.
Workarounds
- Log out of Ghost Admin
- Suspend any users who cannot log out
- Block access to
/ghost/preview
Example of how to block access in nginx:
location ~ /ghost/preview {
rewrite ^(\/(.*\/)?ghost\/)(.*)$ $1 redirect;
}
This redirects the endpoint to /ghost/, which mimics the behaviour after the patch is applied.
References
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- email us at [email protected]
Credits: Paul Gerste, SonarSource (https://www.sonarsource.com/)
- Record
GHSA-9fgx-q25h-jxrg- CVSS 3.1
- 6.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVBIT-ghost-2021-29484 No score
DOM XSS in Theme Preview
Ghost is a Node.js CMS. An unused endpoint added during the development of 4.0.0 has left sites vulnerable to untrusted users gaining access to Ghost Admin. Attackers can gain access by getting logged in users to click a link containing malicious code. Users do not need to enter credentials and may not know they've visited a malicious site. Ghost(Pro) has already been patched. We can find no evidence that the issue was exploited on Ghost(Pro) prior to the patch being added. Self-hosters are impacted if running Ghost a version between 4.0.0 and 4.3.2. Immediate action should be taken to secure your site. The issue has been fixed in 4.3.3, all 4.x sites should upgrade as soon as possible. As the endpoint is unused, the patch simply removes it. As a workaround blocking access to /ghost/preview can also mitigate the issue.
- Record
BIT-ghost-2021-29484- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclei | Ghost CMS <=4.32 - Cross-Site Scripting |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, Nuclei, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-29484 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.8) in Ghost, published April 29, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 7.94%, the 94th percentile. Fixed in ghost 4.3.3.
References
github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/security/advisories/GHSA-9fgx-q25h-jxrg
forum.ghost.org/t/critical-security-update-available-for-ghost-4-x/22290
npmjs.com/package/ghost
blog.sonarsource.com/ghost-admin-takeover
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-29484
security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210618-0006
github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/commit/14b3431de12e674a0bd562e9230e2891b6903ae2
github.com/advisories/GHSA-9fgx-q25h-jxrg
github.com/TryGhost/Ghost