It was possible to execute a ReDoS-type attack inside CKEditor 4 before 4.16 by persuading a victim to paste crafted text into the Styles input of specific dialogs (in the Advanced Tab for Dialogs plugin).
CVE-2021-26271
This medium-severity CVE scores 6.5 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 0.6%, top 30% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- Lower severity and no public exploit yet
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 6.5
- EG Score
- 6.5(medium)
- EPSS
- 78.0%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
January 26, 2021
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
References (8)
- cve@mitrehttps://ckeditor.com/blog/CKEditor-4.16-with-improved-image-pasting-High-Contrast-support-and-a-new-color-API/#security-comes-first
- cve@mitrehttps://github.com/ckeditor/ckeditor4/blob/major/CHANGES.md#ckeditor-416
- cve@mitrehttps://www.oracle.com//security-alerts/cpujul2021.html
- cve@mitrehttps://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://ckeditor.com/blog/CKEditor-4.16-with-improved-image-pasting-High-Contrast-support-and-a-new-color-API/#security-comes-first
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/ckeditor/ckeditor4/blob/major/CHANGES.md#ckeditor-416
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://www.oracle.com//security-alerts/cpujul2021.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html
Affected Packages
(1 across 1 ecosystem)
npm(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| ckeditor4-dev | — | 4.16 | — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 10× in last 7d / 47× 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.
- 2026-07-11 08:25 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-01 09:48 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-13 15:13 UTCOSV refresh
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- 2026-05-27 13:39 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-26 21:36 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
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Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2021-26271?
When was CVE-2021-26271 disclosed?
Is CVE-2021-26271 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-26271?
How do I remediate CVE-2021-26271?
Dependency Blast Radius
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