CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-41178 — Nextcloud is an open-source, self-hosted productivity platform

High CVSS 8.8

Nextcloud is an open-source, self-hosted productivity platform. Prior to versions 20.0.13, 21.0.5, and 22.2.0, a file traversal vulnerability makes an attacker able to download arbitrary SVG images from the host system, including user provided files. This could also be leveraged into a XSS/phishing attack, an attacker could upload a malicious SVG file that mimics the Nextcloud login form and send a specially crafted link to victims. The XSS risk here is mitigated due to the fact that Nextcloud employs a strict Content-Security-Policy disallowing execution of arbitrary JavaScript. It is recommended that the Nextcloud Server be upgraded to 20.0.13, 21.0.5 or 22.2.0. There are no known workarounds aside from upgrading.

Severity
High
CVSS
8.8 (3.1)
Published
2021-10-25
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
javascript/npm
Weaknesses
CWE-23, CWE-434, CWE-22

Affected products

  • nextcloud / server

Showing 1 representative product identities from 3 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Path traversal, unsafe upload, and file handling

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

Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted filenames, archive entries, URLs, and path segments into read, write, include, extraction, and upload operations.
  • Identify filesystem roots, mount permissions, symbolic-link behavior, archive handling, and whether uploaded content is web-accessible or executable.
  • Review canonicalization and containment checks across supported operating systems and storage backends.

Remediate safely

  • Generate server-side storage identifiers and resolve paths beneath a fixed root using filesystem-aware containment checks.
  • Reject absolute, parent-relative, alternate-separator, device, link, and archive entries that escape the intended root.
  • Store uploads outside executable or served paths, validate type and size, and use private atomic temporary files.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

The detailed catalog view below loads this exact record, its source evidence, and the full seven-phase agentic change plan.