Cyber Resilience

CVE-2021-33564

Dragonfly Project Dragonfly ≤ 1.4.0

Public PoCHigh EPSS
Published
29 May 2021
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.72 99.4th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2021-33564 is a critical-severity Argument Injection (CWE-88) vulnerability in Dragonfly Project Dragonfly. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An argument injection vulnerability in the Dragonfly gem before 1.4.0 for Ruby allows remote attackers to read and write to arbitrary files via a crafted URL when the verify_url option is disabled. This may lead to code execution. The problem…

more

occurs because the generate and process features mishandle use of the ImageMagick convert utility.

CWE(s)
CWE-88

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
Argument injection via crafted URL into ImageMagick convert enables remote exploitation of a public-facing web application.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Executionconfidence: MEDIUM
Successful file write can be leveraged to execute arbitrary commands on the host.
attack.mitre.org →
T1005 Data from Local System Collectionconfidence: HIGH
Arbitrary file read capability directly allows collection of data from the local system.
attack.mitre.org →
T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer Command And Controlconfidence: MEDIUM
Remote file write via crafted URL can be used to transfer attacker-controlled tools or payloads onto the system.
attack.mitre.org →
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-15315Shared CWE-88
CVE-2023-39288Shared CWE-88
CVE-2023-50232Shared CWE-88
CVE-2026-26514Shared CWE-88
CVE-2026-22582Shared CWE-88
CVE-2026-25689Shared CWE-88
CVE-2026-24739Shared CWE-88
CVE-2026-45181Shared CWE-88
CVE-2025-14946Shared CWE-88
CVE-2026-26194Shared CWE-88

Affected Assets

dragonfly project
dragonfly
≤ 1.4.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require proper input validation and command construction to prevent argument injection.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
detects

Security testing can detect argument injection but does not prevent it at the source.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent argument injection.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include explicit rules for safe command-line argument handling and escaping.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe command invocation patterns and favor safer APIs.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly require proper neutralization of command arguments, directly eliminating CWE-88.

A.8.32 Change management none match
none

Change management can catch unsafe command patterns during reviews but is not a direct mitigation.

References