What is CVE-2021-38602?

CVE-2021-38602 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Pluxml, classified under Cross-site Scripting. CVSS score: 4.8/10. Published 2021-08-12.

How severe is CVE-2021-38602?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2021-38602 known to be exploited?

3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

XSS in Pluxml

CVE-2021-38602

PluXML 5.8.7 allows Article Editing stored XSS via Headline or Content.

Vulnerability class: XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)

Published 2021-08-12 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 4.8 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.008 (53.3th percentile), scored 2026-09-30.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 53rd percentile — 53.3% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.008 · newest: 0.008 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Pluxml — versions 5.8.7

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-79 — Cross-site Scripting

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

pluxml.org/download/changelog.txt (Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)
github.com/KielVaughn/CVE-2021-38602 (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-38602?: CVE-2021-38602 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Pluxml, classified under Cross-site Scripting. CVSS score: 4.8/10. Published 2021-08-12.
How severe is CVE-2021-38602?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2021-38602 known to be exploited?: 3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.