CVE-2021-43798
Grafana Path Traversal Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 30 October 2025). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
Grafana is an open-source platform for monitoring and observability. Grafana versions 8.0.0-beta1 through 8.3.0 (except for patched versions) iss vulnerable to directory traversal, allowing access to local files. The vulnerable URL path is: `<grafana_host_url>/public/plugins//`, where is the plugin ID for any installed plugin. At no time has Grafana Cloud been vulnerable. Users are advised to upgrade to patched versions 8.0.7, 8.1.8, 8.2.7, or 8.3.1. The GitHub Security Advisory contains more information about vulnerable URL paths, mitigation, and the disclosure timeline.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- EPSS
- 88.50% probability · 100th percentile
- Public exploits
- 1 in Exploit-DB · first 9 December 2021
- CISA KEV
- Listed 9 October 2025 · due 30 October 2025
- Weakness
- CWE-22
- Affected
- grafana/grafana
- Source
- security-advisories@github.com
EPSS 88.5% since 30 October 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
CISA notes
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. https://grafana.com/blog/2021/12/07/grafana-8.3.1-8.2.7-8.1.8-and-8.0.7-released-with-high-severity-security-fix/ ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-43798
Public exploits (1)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165198/Grafana-Arbitrary-File-Reading.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165221/Grafana-8.3.0-Directory-Traversal-Arbitrary-File-Read.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/12/09/2Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/12/10/4Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/grafana/grafana/commit/c798c0e958d15d9cc7f27c72113d572fa58545cePatch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/grafana/grafana/security/advisories/GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47pPatch, Vendor Advisory
- https://grafana.com/blog/2021/12/08/an-update-on-0day-cve-2021-43798-grafana-directory-traversal/Vendor Advisory
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20211229-0004/Third Party Advisory
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165198/Grafana-Arbitrary-File-Reading.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165221/Grafana-8.3.0-Directory-Traversal-Arbitrary-File-Read.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/12/09/2Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/12/10/4Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/grafana/grafana/commit/c798c0e958d15d9cc7f27c72113d572fa58545cePatch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/grafana/grafana/security/advisories/GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47pPatch, Vendor Advisory
- https://grafana.com/blog/2021/12/08/an-update-on-0day-cve-2021-43798-grafana-directory-traversal/Vendor Advisory
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20211229-0004/Third Party Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-43798US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.