Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This issue affects RTI Connext DDS Professional and Secure, middleware often used in operational and embedded environments. A local user with low privileges could trigger a stack buffer overflow and potentially run code. The main business concern is disruption, because the CVSS profile rates availability impact high.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority operational technology and middleware risk. Prioritize environments where DDS supports production, safety, or mission-critical workflows, especially if many local users or shared accounts exist.
Technical view
CVE-2021-38427 is a CWE-121 stack-based buffer overflow in RTI Connext DDS Professional and Connext DDS Secure. The bundle describes affected versions as 4.2.x to 6.1.0, with local attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and CVSS 3.1 score 6.6.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on systems where RTI Connext DDS Professional or Secure is locally installed and accessible to non-administrative users. Internet exposure is not indicated by the source bundle because the CVSS vector is local.
Exploitation context
CISA KEV status is false, and the provided sources do not state active exploitation. The vulnerability requires local access and low privileges, so it is more relevant to insider risk, compromised user accounts, or chained attacks than direct remote compromise.
Researcher notes
The source bundle contains a version-detail ambiguity: the description says 4.2.x to 6.1.0, while the affected list only names 4.2x. Use vendor advisory data to confirm exact vulnerable builds before declaring assets clear or affected.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory RTI Connext DDS Professional and Secure deployments and versions.
- Check RTI support and CISA advisory guidance for fixed or supported versions.
- Limit local account access on systems running affected RTI software.
- Run affected services with least privileges where operationally feasible.
- Monitor affected systems for unexpected crashes or abnormal process behavior.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether deployed versions fall within 4.2.x to 6.1.0.
- Verify which hosts allow local users to interact with affected RTI components.
- Review CISA and RTI guidance for exact affected builds and remediation status.
- Check system logs for crashes or restarts involving RTI Connext processes.
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-121: 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 lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-38427 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
- 6.6 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H1.84.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.6MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ics/advisories/icsa-21-315-02CVE reference
- https://support.rti.com/s/login/?ec=302&startURL=%2Fs%2FCVE reference
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.
Stack-based Buffer Overflow
Stack-based Buffer Overflow represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.