Vulnerability in expat (ALPINE-CVE-2021-45960)

Summary

vulnerability in expat (ALPINE-CVE-2021-45960). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Mitigation: upgrade to `2.2.10-r0` or later.

AI summary snake-internal / snake-material-v2

A vulnerability tracked as **ALPINE-CVE-2021-45960** has been found in expat. Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: ?/10. What to do: upgrade expat to **2.2.10-r0** or later. If unsure, ask your IT team or search "expat ALPINE-CVE-2021-45960" on the vendor's site.

ALPINE-CVE-2021-45960 (expat) — Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / no user interaction Patched: `2.2.10-r0` — apply immediately Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs. Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.

❓ What is the problem

**A vulnerability** (unclassified) exists in expat.

📍 Affected scope

expat — .

🔥 Severity

Severity: ?. Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover

🔧 How to fix

Update to **2.2.10-r0**.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run `grep -r 'expat' .` against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.

Response Actions (7 steps)

Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order

1
Identify exposure identify
```
grep -r 'expat' . | grep -v node_modules
```
リポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で `expat` を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。
6
Apply patch patch
```
Upgrade expat to 2.2.10-r0
```
ステージング環境で 2.2.10-r0 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスと、Step 3 で見つけた異常検知の続報チェックを含めること。
7
Post-deployment verification verify
```
Confirm patched version is live in production
```
パッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番では Step 3 と同じログクエリでアラート再発が無いか継続監視。

Affected packages

Alpine:v3.12 expat

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"2.2.10-r0"}]}]

Alpine:v3.13 expat

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"2.2.10-r2"}]}]

Alpine:v3.14 expat