# CVE-2021-21908: Path traversal in Garrett Metal Detectors

> An authenticated attacker can exploit a path traversal vulnerability in the delete function to delete arbitrary files on the device.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.0 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Dec 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xmjc-9xq6-vh8w

## What is CVE-2021-21908?

CVE-2021-21908 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Garrett Metal Detectors, published on 22 Dec 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Specially-crafted command line arguments can lead to arbitrary file deletion. The handle_delete function does not attempt to sanitize or otherwise validate the contents of the [file] parameter (passed to the function as argv[1]), allowing an authenticated attacker to supply directory traversal primitives and delete semi-arbitrary files.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-21908?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Garrett Ic Module Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-21908?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-21908 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-21908 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-21908 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Garrett Metal Detectors

- [CVE-2021-21909](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21909/): Path traversal in Garrett Metal Detectors (medium 6.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-21908 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-21908 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Garrett Metal Detectors, published on 22 Dec 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-21908 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Garrett Metal Detectors. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21908/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21908/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-21908
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-21908
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-21908

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21908/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.