hbs: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory and Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

4.0 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N

EPSS

• CVE-2021-32822: 0.98% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 62.34 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

The npm hbs package is an Express view engine wrapper for Handlebars. Depending on usage, users of hbs may be vulnerable to a file disclosure vulnerability. There is currently no patch for this vulnerability. hbs mixes pure template data with engine configuration options through the Express render API. By overwriting internal configuration options a file disclosure vulnerability may be triggered in downstream applications. For an example PoC see the referenced GHSL-2021-020.

Published by the source

2 Sep 2021, 17:16 UTC

Last modified by the source

27 Oct 2026, 16:15 UTC

Source last checked

28 Oct 2026, 06:00 UTC

1. Revision 4 · amended · 28 Oct 2026

   Amended from osv record GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8

2. Revision 3 · amended · 27 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8

3. Revision 2 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8

4. Revision 1 · created · 24 Oct 2026

   Published from osv record GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2021-32822

Advisory: hbs: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory and Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
IDs: CVE-2021-32822, GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2021-32822 (revision 4, source checked 28 Oct 2026, 06:00 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 4.0)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor response not established. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- npm hbs: affected <= 4.4.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `npm ls hbs --all`: lists every installed copy and version, including transitive ones. Run in the project root after `npm ci`.

## Supported action
No complete vendor fix is recorded. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check this record again before closing anything.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on hbs.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8 (OSV record GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8 lists affected ranges: npm hbs >=0 <=4.1.2)
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8 lists affected ranges: npm hbs >=0 <=4.1.2)
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8 lists affected ranges: npm hbs >=0 <=4.4.0)
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8 (OSV record GHSA-7f5c-rpf4-86p8 lists affected ranges: npm hbs >=0 <=4.4.0)

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