Summary
Prototype pollution in aurelia-path
Workarounds
A partial work around is to free the Object prototype:
Object.freeze(Object.prototype)
Impact
The vulnerability exposes Aurelia application that uses aurelia-path package to parse a string. The majority of this will be Aurelia applications that employ the aurelia-router package. An example is this could allow an attacker to change the prototype of base object class Object by tricking an application to parse the following URL: https://aurelia.io/blog/?__proto__[asdf]=asdf
CVE-2021-41097 has a CVSS score of 9.1 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (1.1.7); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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The problem should be patched in version 1.1.7. Any version earlier than this is vulnerable.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2021-41097? CVE-2021-41097 is a critical-severity security vulnerability in aurelia-path (npm), affecting versions < 1.1.7. It is fixed in 1.1.7.
- How severe is CVE-2021-41097? CVE-2021-41097 has a CVSS score of 9.1 (Critical). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of aurelia-path are affected by CVE-2021-41097? aurelia-path (npm) versions < 1.1.7 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2021-41097? Yes. CVE-2021-41097 is fixed in 1.1.7. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2021-41097 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2021-41097 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2021-41097 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2021-41097? Upgrade
aurelia-pathto 1.1.7 or later.