CVE-2021-43798

Today we are releasing Grafana 8.3.1, 8.2.7, 8.1.8, 8.0.7. This patch release includes a high severity security fix that affects Grafana versions from v8.0.0-beta1 through v8.3.0.

Release v8.3.1, only containing a security fix:

• Download Grafana 8.3.1
• Release notes

Release v8.2.7, only containing a security fix:

• Download Grafana 8.2.7
• Release notes

Release v8.1.8, only containing a security fix:

• Download Grafana 8.1.8
• Release notes

Release v8.0.7, only containing a security fix:

• Download Grafana 8.0.7
• Release notes

Path Traversal (CVE-2021-43798)

On 2021-12-03, we received a report that Grafana is vulnerable to directory traversal, allowing access to local files. We have confirmed this for versions 8.0.0-beta1 to 8.3.0. Thanks to our defense-in-depth approach, at no time has Grafana Cloud been vulnerable.

The vulnerable URL path is: /public/plugins//, where is the plugin ID for any installed plugin.

Every Grafana instance comes with pre-installed plugins like the Prometheus plugin or MySQL plugin so the following URLs are vulnerable for every instance:

• /public/plugins/alertlist/
• /public/plugins/annolist/
• /public/plugins/barchart/
• /public/plugins/bargauge/
• /public/plugins/candlestick/
• /public/plugins/cloudwatch/
• /public/plugins/dashlist/
• /public/plugins/elasticsearch/
• /public/plugins/gauge/
• /public/plugins/geomap/
• /public/plugins/gettingstarted/
• /public/plugins/grafana-azure-monitor-datasource/
• /public/plugins/graph/
• /public/plugins/heatmap/
• /public/plugins/histogram/
• /public/plugins/influxdb/
• /public/plugins/jaeger/
• /public/plugins/logs/
• /public/plugins/loki/
• /public/plugins/mssql/
• /public/plugins/mysql/
• /public/plugins/news/
• /public/plugins/nodeGraph/
• /public/plugins/opentsdb
• /public/plugins/piechart/
• /public/plugins/pluginlist/
• /public/plugins/postgres/
• /public/plugins/prometheus/
• /public/plugins/stackdriver/
• /public/plugins/stat/
• /public/plugins/state-timeline/
• /public/plugins/status-history/
• /public/plugins/table/
• /public/plugins/table-old/
• /public/plugins/tempo/
• /public/plugins/testdata/
• /public/plugins/text/
• /public/plugins/timeseries/
• /public/plugins/welcome/
• /public/plugins/zipkin/

We have received CVE-2021-43798 for this issue. The CVSS score for this vulnerability is 7.5 High (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) for Grafana versions 8.0.0-beta1 to 8.3.0

Affected versions with high severity

Grafana 8.0.0-beta1 to 8.3.0

Solutions and mitigations

All installations between v8.0.0-beta1 and v8.3.0 should be upgraded as soon as possible.

If you can not upgrade, running a reverse proxy in front of Grafana that normalizes the PATH of the request will mitigate the vulnerability. For example the normalize_path setting in envoy.

Thanks to our defense-in-depth approach, Grafana Cloud instances have not been affected by the vulnerability.

As always, we closely coordinated with all cloud providers licensed to offer Grafana Pro. They have received early notification under embargo and confirmed that their offerings are secure at the time of this announcement. In alphabetical order, this is applicable to Amazon Managed Grafana, and Azure Managed Grafana.

Timeline and postmortem

Here is a detailed timeline starting from when we originally learned of the issue. All times in UTC.

• 2021-12-03: Security researcher sends the initial report
• 2021-12-03: Confirmed for 8.0.0-beta1 through 8.3.0
• 2021-12-03: Confirmed that Grafana Cloud is not vulnerable
• 2021-12-03: Security fix determined and committed to Git
• 2021-12-03: Release timeline determined: 2021-12-07 for private customer release, 2021-12-14 for public release
• 2021-12-06: Second report about the vulnerability received
• 2021-12-07: We received information that the vulnerability has been leaked to the public, turning it into a 0 day
• 2021-12-07: Decision made to release as quickly as feasible
• 2021-12-07: Private release with reduced two hour grace period instead of the usual 1 week
• 2021-12-07: Public release

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Jordy Versmissen for finding the vulnerability and alerting us to it.

Reporting security Issues

If you think you have found a security vulnerability, please send a report to [email protected]. This address can be used for all of
Grafana Labs' open source and commercial products (including but not limited to Grafana, Grafana Cloud, Grafana Enterprise, and grafana.com). We can accept only vulnerability reports at this address. We would prefer that you encrypt your message to us by using our PGP key. The key fingerprint is

F988 7BEA 027A 049F AE8E 5CAA D125 8932 BE24 C5CA

The key is available from keyserver.ubuntu.com.

Security announcements

We maintain a security category on our blog, where we will always post a summary, remediation, and mitigation details for any patch containing security fixes.

You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.

Input manipulates file paths to reach files outside the intended directory, such as configuration or credential files. Typical impact: unauthorized file read or write outside the intended directory.

CVE-2021-43798 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). 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 (8.3.1, 8.2.7, 8.1.8, 8.0.7); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

1. What is CVE-2021-43798? CVE-2021-43798 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in github.com/grafana/grafana (go), affecting versions >= 8.3.0, < 8.3.1. It is fixed in 8.3.1, 8.2.7, 8.1.8, 8.0.7. Input manipulates file paths to reach files outside the intended directory, such as configuration or credential files.
2. How severe is CVE-2021-43798? CVE-2021-43798 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). 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.
3. Which versions of github.com/grafana/grafana are affected by CVE-2021-43798? github.com/grafana/grafana (go) versions >= 8.3.0, < 8.3.1 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2021-43798? Yes. CVE-2021-43798 is fixed in 8.3.1, 8.2.7, 8.1.8, 8.0.7. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2021-43798 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2021-43798 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
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2021-43798 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.
7. How do I fix CVE-2021-43798?
   • Upgrade github.com/grafana/grafana to 8.3.1 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/grafana/grafana to 8.2.7 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/grafana/grafana to 8.1.8 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/grafana/grafana to 8.0.7 or later