CVE-2021-31897
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedIn JetBrains WebStorm before 2021.1, code execution without user confirmation was possible for untrusted projects.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceJetBrains WebStorm versions prior to 2021.1 contain a security flaw that allows arbitrary code execution without requiring user confirmation when opening untrusted projects. This bypasses the IDE's built-in security safeguards designed to warn users before executing potentially malicious code from unknown sources.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 2021.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify WebStorm versionOpen WebStorm, then go to Help > About (or WebStorm > About on macOS) to view the exact version number displayed in the dialogAffected if The displayed version is earlier than 2021.1 (for example, 2020.3.x, 2020.2.x, etc.)
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Check if untrusted project opening is possibleVerify whether WebStorm is configured to allow opening projects from unknown or untrusted locations without explicit confirmation dialogs appearingAffected if The IDE opens or imports projects without prompting for user confirmation when the source is untrusted, and the version is below 2021.1
You are affected if WebStorm version is below 2021.1 and you open or import projects from untrusted or unknown sources in the IDE.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped2021.1
Upgrade WebStorm to version 2021.1 or later. Until patched, avoid opening or importing projects from untrusted or unknown sources in WebStorm.
WebStorm 2021.1 or later
- Back up your current WebStorm settings and projects (optional but recommended)
- Download WebStorm 2021.1 or a later stable version from the official JetBrains website (jetbrains.com)
- Run the installer and follow the prompts to upgrade your existing WebStorm installation
- Restart WebStorm if prompted to complete the installation
- After upgrading, verify untrusted projects now require user confirmation before code execution (the vulnerability is patched)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-31897 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-31897 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data