CVE-2021-43798: Grafana Path Traversal Vulnerability

Reference page built from the source records below, each shown as its source publishes it. Dataset version ref-22db8157105e, updated 2026-11-02T23:39:54.475Z.

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

Name
Grafana Path Traversal Vulnerability
Vendor
Grafana Labs
Product
Grafana
Added to the catalog
2025-10-09
Due date for US federal agencies
2025-10-30
Weaknesses
CWE-22
Catalog version
2026.10.30

Grafana contains a path traversal vulnerability that could allow access to local files.

Required action (CISA)

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Ransomware use: CISA does not mark known use of this vulnerability in ransomware campaigns.

Links in CISA's notes

Read on 2026-11-02T23:39:54.475Z under licence cisa-kev-cc0@b0067899 from https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json

NVD analysis

Status
Analyzed
Published
2021-12-07T19:15:07.633
Last modified
2026-06-17T04:11:27.540
Weaknesses
CWE-22

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.

MetricScoreSeverityVectorScored by
CVSS 3.17.5HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N[email protected] (Secondary)
CVSS 2.05MEDIUMAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N[email protected] (Primary)

References

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

Read on 2026-11-02T23:41:59.479Z under licence nvd-api-terms-of-use@ff2a5288 from https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?cveId=CVE-2021-43798

CVE record

Title (CNA)
Grafana path traversal
Assigner
GitHub_M
State
PUBLISHED
Published
2021-12-07T18:25:10.000Z
Updated
2025-10-21T23:25:24.009Z
Problem types
CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

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.

References

Read on 2026-11-03T01:09:13.378Z under licence cve-terms-of-use@81bfa2f3 from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/main/cves/2021/43xxx/CVE-2021-43798.json

GitHub Advisory Database

GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47p: Grafana path traversal

Severity (GitHub)
high
CVSS
7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:H
Weaknesses
CWE-22
Published
2024-02-01T00:16:10Z
Updated
2025-10-22T19:08:40Z
  • go github.com/grafana/grafana: affected >= 8.3.0, < 8.3.1, first patched 8.3.1
  • go github.com/grafana/grafana: affected >= 8.2.0, < 8.2.7, first patched 8.2.7
  • go github.com/grafana/grafana: affected >= 8.1.0, < 8.1.8, first patched 8.1.8
  • go github.com/grafana/grafana: affected >= 8.0.0-beta1, < 8.0.7, first patched 8.0.7

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](https://grafana.com/grafana/download/8.3.1)
- [Release notes](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/release-notes/release-notes-8-3-1/)

Release v8.2.7, only containing a security fix:

- [Download Grafana 8.2.7](https://grafana.com/grafana/download/8.2.7)
- [Release notes](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/release-notes/release-notes-8-2-7/)

Release v8.1.8, only containing a security fix:

- [Download Grafana 8.1.8](https://grafana.com/grafana/download/8.1.8)
- [Release notes](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/release-notes/release-notes-8-1-8/)

Release v8.0.7, only containing a security fix:

- [Download Grafana 8.0.7](https://grafana.com/grafana/download/8.0.7)
- [Release notes](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/release-notes/release-notes-8-0-7/)


## Path Traversal ([CVE-2021-43798](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-43798))

### Summary

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](https://grafana.com/cloud) been vulnerable.

The vulnerable URL path is: <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/<plugin-id>/, where <plugin-id> 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:

* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/alertlist/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/annolist/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/barchart/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/bargauge/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/candlestick/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/cloudwatch/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/dashlist/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/elasticsearch/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/gauge/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/geomap/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/gettingstarted/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/grafana-azure-monitor-datasource/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/graph/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/heatmap/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/histogram/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/influxdb/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/jaeger/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/logs/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/loki/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/mssql/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/mysql/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/news/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/nodeGraph/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/opentsdb
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/piechart/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/pluginlist/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/postgres/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/prometheus/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/stackdriver/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/stat/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/state-timeline/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/status-history/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/table/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/table-old/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/tempo/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/testdata/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/text/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/timeseries/
* <grafana_host_url>/public/plugins/welcome/
* <grafana_host_url>/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](https://grafana.com/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](https://twitter.com/j0v0x0) 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]](mailto:[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](https://keyserver.ubuntu.com/pks/lookup?search=0xF9887BEA027A049FAE8E5CAAD1258932BE24C5CA&fingerprint=on&op=index).

## Security announcements

We maintain a [security category on our blog](https://grafana.com/tags/security/), 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](https://grafana.com/tags/security/index.xml).

Read on 2026-11-03T07:52:56.557Z under licence ghsa-cc-by-4.0@9e5f1b3c from https://api.github.com/advisories/GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47p

Also known as / affected packages

GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47p

Also known as: CVE-2021-43798. OSV.dev record, GitHub advisory.

  • Go github.com/grafana/grafana: introduced 8.3.0, fixed 8.3.1
  • Go github.com/grafana/grafana: introduced 8.2.0, fixed 8.2.7
  • Go github.com/grafana/grafana: introduced 8.1.0, fixed 8.1.8
  • Go github.com/grafana/grafana: introduced 8.0.0-beta1, fixed 8.0.7

Read on 2026-11-03T00:56:57.885Z under licence ghsa-cc-by-4.0@9e5f1b3c from https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47p

Detection rules (SigmaHQ)

SigmaHQ rules whose own tags name this CVE. Each rule page shows the rule as its author published it.

Defensive techniques (MITRE D3FEND)

D3FEND maps these defensive techniques to the weakness (CWE) that NVD lists for this CVE, through the digital artifacts the weakness affects. D3FEND does not say they stop this vulnerability.

CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

D3FEND ontology version 1.6.0.

Read on 2026-11-02T23:53:56.145Z under licence d3fend-terms-of-use@f98cbc7e from https://d3fend.mitre.org/api/weakness/cwe/CWE-22.json

MITRE D3FEND™ knowledge graph. © 2025 The MITRE Corporation.
"The MITRE Corporation (MITRE) hereby grants you a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use D3FEND for research, development, and commercial purposes. Any copy you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you reproduce MITRE's copyright designation and this license in any such copy." Terms: https://d3fend.mitre.org/tou/

Sources and licences

  • CISA

    Source: CISA Catalog of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities, version 2026.10.30, CC0 1.0. Use of this data does not imply endorsement by CISA or DHS.

    CC0 1.0 Universal

  • National Vulnerability Database (NIST)

    This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

    NVD API Terms of Use (NIST publications in the public domain, 17 U.S.C. 105)

  • CVE Program, The MITRE Corporation

    Copyright © 1999-2026, The MITRE Corporation. CVE is a trademark and the CVE logo is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. CVE Usage: MITRE hereby grants you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE™). Any copy you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you reproduce MITRE's copyright designation and this license in any such copy.

    CVE Program Terms of Use ("CVE Usage" licence)

  • GitHub Advisory Database

    Source: GitHub Advisory Database, https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47p, licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Changes: fields selected and reformatted by ransomware-tracker.com.

    CC BY 4.0

  • GitHub Advisory Database via OSV.dev

    GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47p: GitHub Advisory Database, https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47p. Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), provided as is, without warranties. Retrieved via OSV.dev (https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47p), which enriches records; fields selected and reformatted by ransomware-tracker.com.

    CC BY 4.0

  • SigmaHQ

    "Grafana Path Traversal Exploitation CVE-2021-43798" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2021/Exploits/CVE-2021-43798/web_cve_2021_43798_grafana.yml.
    Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License

    Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

  • MITRE D3FEND

    MITRE D3FEND™ knowledge graph. © 2025 The MITRE Corporation.
    "The MITRE Corporation (MITRE) hereby grants you a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use D3FEND for research, development, and commercial purposes. Any copy you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you reproduce MITRE's copyright designation and this license in any such copy." Terms: https://d3fend.mitre.org/tou/

    MITRE D3FEND Terms of Use (site + knowledge graph); source repo MIT

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "CVE-2021-43798: Grafana Path Traversal Vulnerability",
entity page, dataset version ref-22db8157105e, updated 2026-11-02T23:39:54.475Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/cve/CVE-2021-43798 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: CISA Catalog of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities, version 2026.10.30.
Underlying source: National Vulnerability Database (NIST), CVE API 2.0, record last modified 2026-06-17T04:11:27.540.
Underlying source: CVE List (CVE Program, The MITRE Corporation), record updated 2025-10-21T23:25:24.009Z.
Underlying source: GitHub Advisory Database, GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47p, updated 2025-10-22T19:08:40Z.
Underlying source: GitHub Advisory Database, GHSA-8pjx-jj86-j47p, via OSV.dev, modified 2026-07-08T06:28:12.430689527Z.
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 7b72b328-5708-414f-9a2a-6a6867c26e16, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.
Underlying source: MITRE D3FEND, ontology version 1.6.0.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.

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