Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This vulnerability affects specific ASUS BMC firmware versions used for server management. A logged-in, highly privileged remote user could trigger a buffer overflow in a media support configuration page and crash the BMC web service. The main business impact is management-plane availability, not data theft or system takeover based on the provided sources.
Executive priority
Treat as a targeted management-plane availability issue. Prioritize environments where affected ASUS BMC interfaces are reachable beyond a tightly controlled admin network or where privileged BMC accounts are shared, stale, or weakly governed.
Technical view
CVE-2021-28179 is a CWE-120 buffer overflow in the ASUS BMC firmware Web management page for Media support configuration. The affected function fails to validate user-supplied string length. CVSS 3.1 is 4.9, with network access, low complexity, high privileges required, no confidentiality or integrity impact, and high availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to organizations running the listed ASUS BMC firmware on Z10PR-D16, ASMB8-iKVM, or Z10PE-D16 WS systems, especially where the BMC web interface is reachable by administrators over a network.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing, active exploitation, or public exploit evidence. Exploitation requires privileged access to the BMC web management interface, reducing broad internet risk but leaving concern for compromised admin accounts or poorly segmented management networks.
Researcher notes
Evidence is sparse and describes denial of service after privileged interaction with a specific web configuration function. No confidentiality or integrity impact is claimed in the provided CVSS vector. Do not assume code execution, unauthenticated access, or fixed firmware versions without vendor confirmation.
Mitigation direction
- Check ASUS and TWCERT guidance for corrected firmware or vendor-approved workarounds.
- Inventory affected ASUS BMC platforms and firmware versions across server fleets.
- Restrict BMC web management access to trusted administrative networks only.
- Review privileged BMC accounts and remove unnecessary access.
- Monitor BMC web service availability until remediation is complete.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether any Z10PR-D16 devices run BMC firmware 1.14.51.
- Confirm whether any ASMB8-iKVM devices run BMC firmware 1.14.51.
- Confirm whether any Z10PE-D16 WS devices run BMC firmware 1.14.2.
- Verify BMC web interfaces are not exposed to untrusted networks.
- Review logs for unexpected BMC web service restarts or crashes.
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-120: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. 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-2021-28179 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
- 4.9 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H1.23.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.9MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.asus.com/content/ASUS-Product-Security-Advisory/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.asus.com/tw/support/callus/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.twcert.org.tw/tw/cp-132-4549-c97ba-1.htmlCVE 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.
Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input ('Classic Buffer Overflow')
Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input ('Classic Buffer Overflow') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.