CVE-2021-34422
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 · uneditedThe Keybase Client for Windows before version 5.7.0 contains a path traversal vulnerability when checking the name of a file uploaded to a team folder. A malicious user could upload a file to a shared folder with a specially crafted file name which could allow a user to execute an application which was not intended on their host machine. If a malicious user leveraged this issue with the public folder sharing feature of the Keybase client, this could lead to remote code execution.
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 confidenceThe Keybase Windows client before v5.7.0 fails to properly validate file names when uploading files to team folders. A path traversal vulnerability allows specially crafted filenames containing sequences like '../' to write files outside the intended team folder directory, potentially placing executable files in locations where they auto-execute.
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< 5.7.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/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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Check Keybase client versionOpen Keybase, click on your username in the top-left, then click 'Settings' and look for the version number displayed on the Settings page, or run 'keybase --version' from command line if keybase is in PATHAffected if Version displayed is below 5.7.0
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Confirm Keybase is installed on WindowsCheck if Keybase.exe exists in typical installation directories such as C:\Program Files\Keybase\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Keybase\Affected if Keybase executable is found in either directory and version check above shows version < 5.7.0
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Identify team folder usageOpen Keybase and navigate to the 'Teams' section. Look for any team folders listed or shared folders that are accessibleAffected if You have access to team folders or shared folders in Keybase and the client version is below 5.7.0
You are affected if you have Keybase Windows client installed with a version lower than 5.7.0 and you use or have access to team folders.
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 · scoped5.7.0
Upgrade Keybase Windows client to version 5.7.0 or later. Until patched, disable or limit public folder sharing features and exercise caution when accessing team folders from untrusted sources.
Keybase 5.7.0
- Upgrade Keybase client to version 5.7.0 or later
- Verify the installed version is 5.7.0 or higher by checking Help > About Keybase
- Restart the Keybase client to ensure the patched version is fully loaded
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,816.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-34422 — 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-2021-34422 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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- 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
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