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CVE Record

CVE-2021-33078: Race condition within a thread in firmware for some Intel(R) Optane(TM) SSD and Intel(R) SSD DC Products ma...

Race condition within a thread in firmware for some Intel(R) Optane(TM) SSD and Intel(R) SSD DC Products may allow a privileged user to potentially enable denial of service via local access.

MediumCVSS 4.7Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This firmware flaw affects some Intel Optane SSD and Intel SSD DC products. A local, already privileged user could trigger a race condition that may make the drive or system unavailable. It is not described as remote code execution or data theft.

Executive priority

Treat as a targeted availability risk, not an internet-scale emergency. Prioritize firmware review on critical servers and storage systems, especially where local users or administrators are less tightly controlled.

Technical view

CVE-2021-33078 is a CWE-362 race condition within a firmware thread. CVSS 3.1 is 4.7: local access, high attack complexity, low privileges, no user interaction, unchanged scope, no confidentiality or integrity impact, and high availability impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to environments running affected Intel Optane SSD or Intel SSD DC firmware. The bundle does not identify exact models or firmware versions beyond vendor references.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not report active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked KEV. Exploitation requires local access and privileges, with high attack complexity, reducing broad external attack likelihood.

Researcher notes

Evidence is sparse in the provided bundle. The key constraints are local attack vector, high complexity, and privileged user requirement. Avoid assuming model coverage, exploit availability, or specific fixes beyond Intel and Solidigm guidance.

Mitigation direction

  • Review Intel SA-00563 and Solidigm SA-000563 for affected firmware guidance.
  • Inventory Intel Optane SSD and Intel SSD DC models and firmware versions.
  • Apply vendor-recommended firmware updates or mitigations where listed.
  • Restrict local privileged access to systems with affected drives.
  • Prioritize critical storage hosts where availability loss has business impact.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm whether deployed drives match affected products in vendor advisories.
  • Record current SSD firmware versions from asset or storage management tooling.
  • Verify remediated systems show vendor-recommended firmware levels.
  • Check monitoring for unexplained storage resets, hangs, or availability events.
  • Document exceptions where firmware cannot be updated immediately.
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

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-362: 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.

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cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2021-33078 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
4.7 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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
4.7CVSS 3.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H13.6Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

4.7Medium
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2021-33078Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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
n/aIntel(R) Optane(TM) SSD and Intel(R) SSD DC ProductsSee referencesListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-362

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

CWE-362 · source CWE mapping

Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')

Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

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