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Awesome ProceduresApplication · Neo4j

CVE-2021-42767

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.5.0.17 / 4.2.10 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
A directory traversal vulnerability in the apoc plugins in Neo4J Graph database before 4.4.0.1 allows attackers to read local files, and sometimes create local files. This is fixed in 3.5.17, 4.2.10, 4.3.0.4, and 4.4.0.1.

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 · high confidence

A directory traversal vulnerability in the APOC plugins of Neo4j Graph Database allows attackers to use path traversal sequences (../) to escape the intended directory boundaries. This enables unauthorized reading of local files on the server and in some cases creation of new local files. The vulnerability is exploitable via the APOC plugin functionality.

MitigationUpgrade Neo4j to version 3.5.17, 4.2.10, 4.3.0.4, or 4.4.0.1 or later. If the APOC plugin is not required, consider disabling it to reduce attack surface.

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
Awesome ProceduresApplication
Affected:< 3.5.0.17>= 4.2.0.0, < 4.2.10>= 4.3.0.0, < 4.3.0.4>= 4.4.0.0, < 4.4.0.1

CVSS 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
None

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

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if Neo4j is installed
    Run 'cypher-shell' or check the Neo4j installation directory for the version file. On Linux, common paths include /var/lib/neo4j or /opt/neo4j. On Windows, check the installation directory.
    Affected if Neo4j is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed Neo4j version
    Run 'neo4j --version' from the command line, or check the version file in the Neo4j home directory (often named 'version' or found in the conf folder).
    Affected if The installed version falls into any of these ranges: < 3.5.0.17, >= 4.2.0.0 and < 4.2.10, >= 4.3.0.0 and < 4.3.0.4, or >= 4.4.0.0 and < 4.4.0.1
  3. Verify if the APOC plugin is installed
    Check the plugins directory within the Neo4j installation (commonly <neo4j-home>/plugins). Look for a JAR file containing 'apoc' in the filename, such as 'apoc-*-all.jar' or similar.
    Affected if The APOC plugin JAR file exists in the plugins directory
  4. Confirm APOC procedures are accessible
    Execute the Cypher query 'RETURN apoc.version()' via cypher-shell or the Neo4j browser. If this returns a version number, APOC procedures are actively loaded and usable.
    Affected if The APOC version is returned and the plugin is loaded into Neo4j

You are affected if Neo4j is running with the APOC plugin loaded and the installed version falls into any of the vulnerable version ranges listed.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.5.0.17 / 4.2.10 / 4.3.0.4 or later
Fixed in 3.5.0.174.2.104.3.0.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Neo4j to version 3.5.17, 4.2.10, 4.3.0.4, or 4.4.0.1 or later. If the APOC plugin is not required, consider disabling it to reduce attack surface.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to APOC 4.4.0.1 (or 3.5.17 for 3.x, 4.2.10 for 4.2.x, 4.3.0.4 for 4.3.x depending on your Neo4j version)

  1. 1. Identify your current APOC plugin version by checking the filename in the Neo4j plugins directory (typically $NEO4J_HOME/plugins/)
  2. 2. Stop the Neo4j database service
  3. 3. Navigate to the Neo4j plugins directory
  4. 4. Download the appropriate fixed APOC plugin version from the official Neo4j GitHub releases (github.com/neo4j-contrib/apoc-config) or Maven Central
  5. 5. Remove or rename the existing apoc-*.jar file
  6. 6. Place the new fixed APOC jar file in the plugins directory
  7. 7. Ensure the file permissions match other plugin files
  8. 8. Start the Neo4j database service
Caveat Minimal risk - APOC patch releases typically maintain backward compatibility; verify any custom procedures using APOC functions still work after upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Awesome Procedures Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-42767 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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