Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw is a buffer-size calculation bug in RTI Connext DDS Professional and Connext DDS Secure. If triggered by a local low-privileged user, it may cause a buffer overflow with high availability impact and limited confidentiality and integrity impact.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate operational risk, especially where DDS supports industrial or mission-critical systems. The highest stated impact is availability, and remediation should focus on confirming exposure and following RTI guidance.
Technical view
CVE-2021-38435 is categorized as CWE-131: incorrect calculation of buffer size. The CVSS vector is local, low complexity, low privilege, no user interaction, unchanged scope, with C:L/I:L/A:H. The provided description says versions 4.2x to 6.1.0 are affected, while affected entries list 4.2x.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on systems running RTI Connext DDS Professional or Connext DDS Secure. Scoping should account for the source inconsistency: the description says 4.2x to 6.1.0, while structured affected entries list 4.2x.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not cite active exploitation, and the CVE is not in KEV. The attack vector is local with low privileges required, so risk depends on who can access hosts running the affected RTI software.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports a local, authenticated buffer overflow risk caused by incorrect allocation sizing. Do not assume remote exploitability from the provided CVSS vector. Version scope needs vendor confirmation because the bundle contains conflicting affected-version statements.
Mitigation direction
- Check CISA and RTI guidance for affected and fixed versions.
- Inventory Connext DDS Professional and Secure installations.
- Prioritize vendor-supported updates for confirmed affected deployments.
- Restrict local access to systems running affected RTI components.
- Monitor vendor advisories for clarified version scope.
Validation and detection
- Identify installed RTI Connext DDS product and version.
- Compare versions against both cited affected ranges.
- Confirm remediation status through RTI support guidance.
- Review local account access on affected hosts.
- Document any uncertainty caused by conflicting version data.
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-131: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-38435 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.
Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size
Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.