CVE-2021-43837

Arbitrary code execution via untrusted Jinja2 templates

Published Dec 16, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Template injection in PeopleDoc vault-cli before 3.0.0 allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary code through Vault secrets. The secret-reading path treats strings beginning with !template! as Jinja2 templates and renders attacker-controlled expressions without sandboxing. Exploitation requires control of a secret later read with rendering enabled; resulting code runs with vault-cli's host privileges and can reuse its Vault token.

CVSS severity9.1
Critical
EPSS probability5.00%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Template injection in PeopleDoc vault-cli before 3.0.0 allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary code through Vault secrets. The secret-reading path treats strings beginning with !template! as Jinja2 templates and renders attacker-controlled expressions without sandboxing. Exploitation requires control of a secret later read with rendering enabled; resulting code runs with vault-cli's host privileges and can reuse its Vault token.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-43837
Published
Dec 16, 2021
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
PeopleDoc
Product
vault-cli
Classifications
CWE-74, CWE-94, T1059.006
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 16, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=>= 0.7.0,< 3.0.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

PeopleDoc · vault-cliversion=>= 0.7.0,< 3.0.0

Published CVSS scores

9.1NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
8.4GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
9.0NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-74Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')
CWE-94Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
T1059.006Command and Scripting Interpreter: Python

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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