Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-21579 lets an unauthenticated attacker abuse vulnerable Dell EMC iDRAC9 web interfaces to send users to attacker-chosen websites. The attacker still needs a user to click a malicious link. Business risk is mainly phishing, credential capture, and trust abuse around server management portals.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority management-plane hygiene issue. It is not described as remotely compromising servers by itself, but it can support phishing against privileged administrators and should be fixed during normal firmware maintenance.
Technical view
Dell EMC iDRAC9 versions before 4.40.40.00 contain a CWE-601 open redirect. CVSS 3.1 is 6.1, network-reachable, low complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required, changed scope, with low confidentiality and integrity impact and no availability impact.
Likely exposure
Organizations using Dell EMC iDRAC9 firmware earlier than 4.40.40.00 may be exposed, especially where administrators access iDRAC through reachable management portals. The source bundle does not provide exact CPEs or model-level applicability.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not cite active exploitation, and KEV is false. Exploitation requires tricking a victim into clicking a crafted link, so realistic risk depends on administrator targeting and management-interface trust.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to CVE metadata and Dell’s advisory URL. The bundle names iDRAC9 before 4.40.40.00 but does not include detailed affected CPEs, models, exploit observations, or workaround specifics.
Mitigation direction
- Review Dell advisory 000189193 for applicable firmware and guidance.
- Update affected iDRAC9 firmware to 4.40.40.00 or later where applicable.
- Restrict iDRAC access to trusted management networks or VPNs.
- Warn administrators not to trust unsolicited iDRAC links.
- Monitor for phishing attempts referencing iDRAC or server management portals.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Dell systems running iDRAC9.
- Record each iDRAC9 firmware version.
- Flag firmware earlier than 4.40.40.00 for remediation review.
- Confirm iDRAC management interfaces are not publicly exposed.
- Check vendor guidance for model-specific applicability.
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-601: 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-2021-21579 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
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:C/C:L/I:L/A:N2.82.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.1MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/000189193CVE 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.
URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect')
URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.