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CVE Record

CVE-2021-20427: IBM Security Guardium 11.2 uses an inadequate account lockout setting that could allow a remote attacker to...

IBM Security Guardium 11.2 uses an inadequate account lockout setting that could allow a remote attacker to brute force account credentials. IBM X-Force ID: 196314.

MediumCVSS 5.3Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

IBM Security Guardium 11.2 may not lock accounts aggressively enough after failed logins. A remote attacker could repeatedly guess credentials. The published impact is limited to confidentiality, but successful password guessing could still create meaningful business risk for systems protecting database activity and security monitoring.

Executive priority

Treat as a moderate-priority identity control issue. Prioritize internet-exposed or broadly reachable Guardium systems because credential compromise can undermine a security monitoring platform.

Technical view

CVE-2021-20427 is a remote, unauthenticated brute-force risk caused by inadequate account lockout settings in IBM Security Guardium 11.2. CVSS 3.0 is 5.3 with network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, and low confidentiality impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is likely limited to organizations running IBM Security Guardium 11.2, especially where authentication interfaces are reachable from untrusted networks or where weak credentials are still allowed.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. The risk is credential guessing over the network, not a published code-execution path in the provided sources.

Researcher notes

Evidence is clear on affected product, version, vector, and CVSS. The provided bundle does not name a specific patch level, workaround, CWE, exploit, or observed exploitation, so remediation should be anchored to IBM guidance.

Mitigation direction

  • Check IBM advisory guidance for the supported fix or configuration change.
  • Restrict Guardium login access to trusted networks or VPN paths.
  • Enforce strong passwords and MFA where supported by deployment policy.
  • Review and harden account lockout and failed-login controls.
  • Monitor for repeated failed authentication attempts.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory IBM Security Guardium deployments and confirm version 11.2 presence.
  • Identify exposed Guardium login or administration interfaces.
  • Review account lockout settings against IBM guidance.
  • Check authentication logs for repeated failures by account or source.
  • Confirm remediation status through IBM advisory and change records.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
4

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

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CVE-2021-20427 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.3 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:N/I:N/PR:N/A:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/E:U/RC:C/RL:O

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
3Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
5.3CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:N/I:N/PR:N/A:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/E:U/RC:C/RL:O3.91.4Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

5.3Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-20427Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:N/I:N/PR:N/A:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/E:U/RC:C/RL:O

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
IBMSecurity Guardium11.2Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.