CVE-2021-29641

Severity: high (CVSS 8.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 4.9% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: yes
Published: 2021-04-07 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-434

Description

Directus 8 before 8.8.2 allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary code because file-upload permissions include the ability to upload a .php file to the main upload directory and/or upload a .php file and a .htaccess file to a subdirectory. Exploitation succeeds only for certain installations with the Apache HTTP Server and the local-storage driver (e.g., when the product was obtained from hub.docker.com).

Affected products

Rangerstudio Directus: from 8.0.0 before 8.8.2 — fixed in 8.8.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Rangerstudio Directus 8.8.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162118/Monospace-Directus-Headless-CMS-File-Upload-Rule-Bypass.html
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2021/Apr/14
https://hub.docker.com/layers/directus/directus/v8.8.2-apache/images/sha256-d9898b6442b0150c3c377b50e706757f35d2d563bd82ddaf97f3ae4ba450a6e6?context=explore
https://sec-consult.com/de/vulnerability-lab/advisory/arbitrary-file-upload-and-bypassing-htaccess-rules-in-monospace-directus-headless-cms/
https://sec-consult.com/vulnerability-lab/advisory/arbitrary-file-upload-and-bypassing-htaccess-rules-in-monospace-directus-headless-cms/
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162118/Monospace-Directus-Headless-CMS-File-Upload-Rule-Bypass.html
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2021/Apr/14
https://hub.docker.com/layers/directus/directus/v8.8.2-apache/images/sha256-d9898b6442b0150c3c377b50e706757f35d2d563bd82ddaf97f3ae4ba450a6e6?context=explore
https://sec-consult.com/de/vulnerability-lab/advisory/arbitrary-file-upload-and-bypassing-htaccess-rules-in-monospace-directus-headless-cms/
https://sec-consult.com/vulnerability-lab/advisory/arbitrary-file-upload-and-bypassing-htaccess-rules-in-monospace-directus-headless-cms/

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