CVE-2021-22205

CRITICALNVD 10.010.0—
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 10.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 10.0 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Trending — 3 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild
10.0
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS: 100%CVSS: 10.0Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 11.9. GitLab was not properly validating image files that were passed to a file parser which resulted in a remote command execution.

CVSS v3
10.0
EG Score
10.0(high)
EG Risk
100(Act)
EG Risk 100/100SSVC: Act

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity100% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
Action: Fix now — active exploitation, automatable, high impact.
EPSS
100.0%
KEV
⚠ Exploited

Published

April 23, 2021

Last Modified

October 24, 2025

Advisory Details (4)

Auto-updated Jul 18, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic

HackerOne

https://hackerone.com/reports/1154542
generic

RCE when removing metadata with ExifTool (#327121) · Issues · GitLab.org / GitLab · GitLab

https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/327121
generic

2021/CVE-2021-22205.json · master · GitLab.org / GitLab CVE assignments · GitLab

https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cves/-/blob/master/2021/CVE-2021-22205.json
generic

Packet Storm Security

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164768/GitLab-Unauthenticated-Remote-ExifTool-Command-Injection.html

Weakness Classification(2)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 34× in last 7d / 198× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 382 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-07-23 01:57 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-07-22 23:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-07-22 22:44 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-07-22 19:40 UTCCISA KEV update
  5. 2026-07-22 19:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-07-22 15:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-07-22 12:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-07-22 08:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-07-22 04:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-07-22 01:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-07-21 21:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-07-21 17:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-07-21 14:37 UTCCISA KEV update
  14. 2026-07-21 14:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-07-21 10:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-07-21 06:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-07-21 03:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-07-20 23:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-07-20 19:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-07-20 16:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-07-20 12:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-07-20 08:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-07-20 05:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-07-20 01:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-07-19 21:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-07-19 18:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-07-19 14:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-07-19 10:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-07-19 07:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-07-19 03:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-07-18 23:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-07-18 20:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-07-18 16:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-07-18 12:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-07-18 09:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-07-18 05:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-07-18 02:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-07-17 22:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-07-17 18:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-07-17 15:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-07-17 11:24 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-07-17 07:45 UTCEG score recompute
  18. 2026-07-17 07:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-07-17 04:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-07-17 00:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-07-16 20:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-07-16 17:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-07-16 17:04 UTCCISA KEV update
  24. 2026-07-16 13:24 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-07-16 09:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-07-16 06:04 UTCGHSA enrichment
  27. 2026-07-16 02:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-07-15 22:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  29. 2026-07-15 19:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  30. 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-07-15 16:49 UTCCISA KEV update
  33. 2026-07-15 15:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  34. 2026-07-15 15:04 UTCCISA KEV update
  35. 2026-07-15 11:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  36. 2026-07-15 08:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-07-15 04:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  38. 2026-07-15 00:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  39. 2026-07-14 21:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
  40. 2026-07-14 18:05 UTCCISA KEV update
  41. 2026-07-14 17:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  42. 2026-07-14 13:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  43. 2026-07-14 10:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  44. 2026-07-14 06:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  45. 2026-07-14 02:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-07-13 23:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  47. 2026-07-13 19:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-07-13 17:07 UTCCISA KEV update
  49. 2026-07-13 15:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  50. 2026-07-13 12:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-07-13 08:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  52. 2026-07-13 05:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-07-13 01:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  54. 2026-07-12 21:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  55. 2026-07-12 18:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  56. 2026-07-12 14:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-07-12 10:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  58. 2026-07-12 07:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  59. 2026-07-12 03:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  60. 2026-07-11 23:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  61. 2026-07-11 20:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  62. 2026-07-11 16:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  63. 2026-07-11 12:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  64. 2026-07-11 09:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  65. 2026-07-11 05:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-07-11 01:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  67. 2026-07-10 22:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  68. 2026-07-10 18:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  69. 2026-07-10 17:52 UTCCISA KEV update
  70. 2026-07-10 14:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  71. 2026-07-10 11:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
  72. 2026-07-10 07:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  73. 2026-07-10 03:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  74. 2026-07-10 00:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  75. 2026-07-09 20:32 UTCGHSA enrichment

Publicly available exploits

(10 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (9 GitHub PoCs) (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • GitHub PoCkeven1z/CVE-2021-22205
    First seen Jul 20, 2022

    CVE-2021-22205 检测脚本,支持getshell和命令执行

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-50532
    First seen Nov 17, 2021

    GitLab 13.10.2 - Remote Code Execution (RCE) (Unauthenticated)

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCinspiringz/CVE-2021-22205
    First seen Nov 11, 2021

    GitLab CE/EE Preauth RCE using ExifTool

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCfaisalfs10x/GitLab-CVE-2021-22205-scanner
    First seen Nov 9, 2021
    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCc0okB/CVE-2021-22205
    First seen Oct 31, 2021

    CVE-2021-22205 RCE

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCwhwlsfb/CVE-2021-22205
    First seen Oct 30, 2021

    CVE-2021-22205 Gitlab 未授权远程代码执行漏洞 EXP, 移除了对djvumake & djvulibre的依赖，可在win平台使用

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCAl1ex/CVE-2021-22205
    First seen Oct 29, 2021

    CVE-2021-22205& GitLab CE/EE RCE

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCZZ-SOCMAP/CVE-2021-22205
    First seen Oct 29, 2021

    Gitlab CE/EE RCE 未授权远程代码执行漏洞 POC && EXP CVE-2021-22205

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCXTeam-Wing/CVE-2021-22205
    First seen Oct 28, 2021

    Pocsuite3 For CVE-2021-22205

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCr0eXpeR/CVE-2021-22205
    First seen Oct 28, 2021

    CVE-2021-22205 Unauthorized RCE

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2021-22205?
CVE-2021-22205 is a critical vulnerability published on April 23, 2021. An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 11.9. GitLab was not properly validating image files that were passed to a file parser which resulted in a remote command execution.
When was CVE-2021-22205 disclosed?
CVE-2021-22205 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on April 23, 2021, with the most recent update on October 24, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2021-22205 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2021-22205 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on November 3, 2021, affecting GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-22205?
CVE-2021-22205 has a CVSS v3 base score of 10.0 (NVD).
Which products are affected by CVE-2021-22205?
CVE-2021-22205 affects GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions. The full affected-products list, including version ranges and fixed versions, is shown in the Affected Packages section of this page.
How do I remediate CVE-2021-22205?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2021-22205, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2021-22205

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