Skip to main content
Public proof of conceptFix available

CVE-2021-32820

A public proof of concept exists; no exploitation attested.

  • Published2021-05-14
  • Fixed in5.3.3
  • WeaknessCWE-200 · CWE-94

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

Express-handlebars is a Handlebars view engine for Express. Express-handlebars mixes pure template data with engine configuration options through the Express render API. More specifically, the layout parameter may trigger file disclosure vulnerabilities in downstream applications. This potential vulnerability is somewhat restricted in that only files with existing extentions (i.e. file.extension) can be included, files that lack an extension will have .handlebars appended to them. For complete details refer to the referenced GHSL-2021-018 report. Notes in documentation have been added to help users avoid this potential information exposure vulnerability.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2021-05-1419:15CVE publishedNVD

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-11-03 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-32820?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-32820?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

OSV · NVD
handlebars
BranchAffectedFixed in
5.3< 5.3.35.3.3
Express handlebars project express handlebars
BranchAffectedFixed in
5.3≤ 5.3.2no fix published
express-handlebars
BranchAffectedFixed in
5.3< 5.3.15.3.1

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

  1. Update handlebars to 5.3.3

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-11-03 22:42 UTC
Nuclei template
available
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
Published
2021-05-14
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-fr76-2wp8-fp92

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-32820?

Express-handlebars is a Handlebars view engine for Express. Express-handlebars mixes pure template data with engine configuration options through the Express render API. More specifically, the layout parameter may trigger file disclosure vulnerabilities in downstream applications. This potential vulnerability is somewhat restricted in that only files with existing extentions (i.e. file.extension) can be included, files that lack an extension will have .handlebars appended to them. For complete details refer to the referenced GHSL-2021-018 report. Notes in documentation have been added to help users avoid this potential information exposure vulnerability.

Is CVE-2021-32820 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2021-32820 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 15.7% on 2026-11-03, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-32820?

CVE-2021-32820 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.6 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N.

Running handlebars? Hear about its next vulnerability

Surveillance reads the versions in your stack — a domain, a lockfile or a list — checks each CVE against the ranges its sources publish, and alerts you when one you run is exploited or enters CISA KEV. A version it cannot read stays « version not verified ».

Get alerts for this productCISA KEV additions, November 2026Search CVEs

No credit card required · No monthly cap on website lookups · 250 API requests/month

Go further

Related vulnerabilities

Same product first, then the same vendor advisory and the same publication week.

Back to CVE Database

Sources for this record