CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-32670 — Datasette is an open source multi-tool for exploring and publishing data

High CVSS 7.2

Datasette is an open source multi-tool for exploring and publishing data. The `?_trace=1` debugging feature in Datasette does not correctly escape generated HTML, resulting in a [reflected cross-site scripting](https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/xss/#reflected-xss-attacks) vulnerability. This vulnerability is particularly relevant if your Datasette installation includes authenticated features using plugins such as [datasette-auth-passwords](https://datasette.io/plugins/datasette-auth-passwords) as an attacker could use the vulnerability to access protected data. Datasette 0.57 and 0.56.1 both include patches for this issue. If you run Datasette behind a proxy you can workaround this issue by rejecting any incoming requests with `?_trace=` or `&_trace=` in their query string parameters.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.2 (3.1)
Published
2021-06-07
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-79

Affected products

  • datasette / datasette

Matched remediation archetype

Cross-site scripting and unsafe browser output

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace reflected, stored, and DOM-derived untrusted values into HTML, attributes, URLs, styles, scripts, and client-side template sinks.
  • Identify affected origins, authenticated user roles, sensitive browser capabilities, and where content is shared across tenants.
  • Review framework escaping, rich-text sanitization, legacy templates, and client-side rendering paths.

Remediate safely

  • Use context-aware framework output encoding and safe DOM APIs; keep untrusted data out of executable contexts.
  • Sanitize intentionally supported markup with a maintained allowlist policy and validate URLs and attributes separately.
  • Update affected rendering components and add tests for every output context using inert sentinel markup.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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