Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Dell EMC XtremIO management software before version 6.3.3-8 has a CSRF flaw in XMS. An attacker could trick a logged-in privileged user into unknowingly submitting changes to the management application. Because the CVSS impact is high across confidentiality, integrity, and availability, exposed storage-management environments should treat this as a high-priority remediation item.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for any production XtremIO environment still below 6.3.3-8, especially where storage administration is business-critical. The issue is not documented as actively exploited in the provided sources, but the potential impact to storage operations justifies near-term action.
Technical view
CVE-2021-21549 is a CWE-352 cross-site request forgery vulnerability in Dell EMC XtremIO XMS before 6.3.3-8. The CVSS 3.1 vector is AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, score 8.8. Exploitation requires user interaction from a privileged victim application user and can cause unintended state-changing server operations.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations running Dell EMC XtremIO with XMS versions prior to 6.3.3-8. Risk is higher where privileged XMS users access the management interface from browsers that can also reach untrusted content. The source bundle does not identify specific deployment configurations beyond XtremIO XMS.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not report active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked in KEV. The attack model is social or browser-mediated: a non-privileged attacker must cause a privileged XMS user to send state-changing requests to the vulnerable application.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE record and Dell reference. The sources identify CSRF in XMS and the affected threshold, but do not provide exploit details, affected CPEs, or compensating controls. Validate using version inventory and Dell’s advisory rather than assumptions about product packaging.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory Dell EMC XtremIO XMS deployments and identify versions before 6.3.3-8.
- Review Dell advisory 000186363 for supported remediation guidance.
- Upgrade affected XMS instances to a non-affected Dell-supported release.
- Restrict management-interface access to trusted administrative networks.
- Remind privileged users not to browse untrusted content during admin sessions.
Validation and detection
- Confirm each XtremIO XMS version against the 6.3.3-8 threshold.
- Verify Dell advisory applicability for each deployed XtremIO environment.
- Review privileged XMS activity logs for unexpected state-changing operations.
- Check whether XMS management access is limited to approved administrative paths.
- Document patched, unaffected, and exception systems for vulnerability tracking.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
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
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-352: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-21549 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe 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.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H2.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/000186363CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.