Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This vulnerability affects some Intel Ethernet adapters and Intel I225 manageability firmware. A local user who already has high privileges could cause a denial of service. The business risk is mainly availability loss on affected systems, not data theft or remote compromise based on the provided sources.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate operational risk. It is not described as remotely exploitable, but affected systems could lose network availability if a privileged local user abuses the flaw.
Technical view
CVE-2021-33142 is CWE-20 improper input validation in some Intel Ethernet adapter and I225 manageability firmware. CVSS 3.1 is 6.0 with local attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction, changed scope, and high availability impact only.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to systems using Intel Ethernet adapters or Intel Ethernet Controller I225 manageability firmware versions identified by Intel as affected. The source bundle does not enumerate exact models or firmware versions.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation requires local access and high privileges, which reduces broad external attack likelihood but still matters on shared, administered, or already-compromised systems.
Researcher notes
Important missing detail is the exact affected-version matrix, which the bundle points to Intel’s advisory for. The main analytic constraints are local access, high privileges required, no confidentiality or integrity impact, and availability as the primary security outcome.
Mitigation direction
- Review Intel advisory INTEL-SA-00756 for affected versions and vendor guidance.
- Inventory systems using Intel Ethernet adapters and I225 manageability firmware.
- Apply only Intel or OEM-recommended updates for confirmed affected systems.
- Restrict and audit local privileged access on systems with affected adapters.
- Prioritize maintenance for high-availability servers or network-dependent workloads.
Validation and detection
- Identify adapter models and manageability firmware versions across endpoints and servers.
- Compare discovered versions against Intel advisory INTEL-SA-00756.
- Confirm administrative access is limited to authorized users and service accounts.
- Check operational logs for unexplained adapter resets or network availability loss.
- Document unaffected systems where hardware or firmware is out of scope.
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-20: 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-2021-33142 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 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H1.54Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Source materials
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.
Improper Input Validation
Improper Input Validation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.