Node.js before 10.24.0, 12.21.0, 14.16.0, and 15.10.0 is vulnerable to a denial of service attack when too many connection attempts with…

Description

Node.js before 10.24.0, 12.21.0, 14.16.0, and 15.10.0 is vulnerable to a denial of service attack when too many connection attempts with an 'unknownProtocol' are established. This leads to a leak of file descriptors. If a file descriptor limit is configured on the system, then the server is unable to accept new connections and prevent the process also from opening, e.g. a file. If no file descriptor limit is configured, then this lead to an excessive memory usage and cause the system to run out of memory.

Scores

EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)

77.4% · top 0.4% of all CVEs (7 Nov 2026)

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.5.

Weakness

• CWE-400: Denial of Service (CWE-400) (opens in a new tab)All about CWE-400 and its CVEs
• CWE-772 (opens in a new tab)All about CWE-772 and its CVEs

Affected products

• NodeJS · Node

  • affected 4.0 – < 4.*
  • affected 5.0 – < 5.*
  • affected 6.0 – < 6.*
  • affected 7.0 – < 7.*
  • affected 8.0 – < 8.*
  • affected 9.0 – < 9.*
  • affected 10.0 – < 10.24.0
  • affected 11.0 – < 11.*
  • affected 12.0 – < 12.21.0
  • affected 13.0 – < 13.*
  • affected 14.0 – < 14.16.0
  • affected 15.0 – < 15.10.0

References (10)

• https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/february-2021-security-releases/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
• https://hackerone.com/reports/1043360 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
• FEDORA-2021-a760169c3c (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORAx_transferred
• FEDORA-2021-f6bd75e9d4 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORAx_transferred
• FEDORA-2021-6aaba80ba2 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORAx_transferred
• https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuApr2021.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
• https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210416-0001/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
• https://www.oracle.com//security-alerts/cpujul2021.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
• https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
• https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

• CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
• CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
• NVD (opens in a new tab)
• FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
• OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
• GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
• CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)

Badge for a README or a ticket

[![CVE-2021-22883](https://trackcve.app/badge/CVE-2021-22883.svg)](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2021-22883)

Record last updated 30 Apr 2025, 22:24 UTC.