CVE-2021-21353
Remote code execution in pug
- Published
- Mar 3, 2021
- Updated
- Apr 16, 2025
- Assigning CNA
- GitHub_M
- Evidence observed
- Aug 8, 2026
Primary CVSS
nvd · CVSS 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HLow · next 30 days
- Percentile
- 90.7%
- Model date
- Sep 21, 2026
EPSS is a statistical estimate, not a certainty or a measure of impact. Combine it with CVSS, KEV status, exposure and your environment.
Summary
Pug is an npm package which is a high-performance template engine. In pug before version 3.0.1, if a remote attacker was able to control the `pretty` option of the pug compiler, e.g. if you spread a user provided object such as the query parameters of a request into the pug template inputs, it was possible for them to achieve remote code execution on the node.js backend. This is fixed in version 3.0.1. This advisory applies to multiple pug packages including "pug", "pug-code-gen". pug-code-gen has a backported fix at version 2.0.3. This advisory is not exploitable if there is no way for un-trusted input to be passed to pug as the `pretty` option, e.g. if you compile templates in advance before applying user input to them, you do not need to upgrade.
Sources
1Proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2021-21353, a remote code execution vulnerability in Pug template engine versions <=3.0.0. Demonstrates payload injection via the 'pretty' parameter to execute arbitrary commands.
Responsible use
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