Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-38645 lets a user who already has local low-privileged access gain elevated privileges in Microsoft Open Management Infrastructure. For executives, the urgency is driven by CISA KEV status: this vulnerability is known to have been exploited, so exposed managed systems should be prioritized for remediation.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority because it is in CISA KEV and can turn low-privileged local access into full system impact. Remediate affected management and monitoring estates promptly, especially where those tools run broadly across production infrastructure.
Technical view
Microsoft describes this as an Open Management Infrastructure elevation-of-privilege vulnerability with CVSS 7.8. The vector is local, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. The bundle lists OMI and several Azure, SCOM, monitoring, Sentinel, Security Center, and Azure Stack Hub components as affected.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on systems running Microsoft OMI or listed Microsoft management, monitoring, security, automation, or Azure Stack Hub components. The source bundle does not provide version-specific fixed builds or discovery commands.
Exploitation context
CISA KEV status supports known exploitation. The bundle does not provide exploit timing, affected campaigns, target sectors, or technical exploitation details. Because the attack vector is local, it is most concerning after an attacker gains an initial foothold.
Researcher notes
The key constraint is local access with low privileges. CVSS reports high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability, with official remediation available. The bundle does not include CWE mapping, fixed version numbers, or safe technical indicators beyond affected product names.
Mitigation direction
- Apply Microsoft MSRC guidance for CVE-2021-38645 across OMI and affected components.
- Prioritize remediation on internet-facing, production, and privileged management systems.
- Inventory Azure, SCOM, monitoring, Sentinel, Security Center, and Azure Stack Hub deployments.
- Check vendor guidance for fixed versions because patch details are not included here.
- Limit local access and review privileged paths until remediation is complete.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Microsoft OMI is installed on managed hosts.
- Map installed Microsoft management and monitoring components to the affected product list.
- Verify remediation status against the MSRC advisory for CVE-2021-38645.
- Review local privilege escalation alerts and suspicious post-compromise activity.
- Confirm vulnerability management tooling detects CVE-2021-38645 on relevant assets.
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.
Privilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupContainer behavior lookup
The affected technology mentions containers, so container-specific ATT&CK technique review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-38645 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- Yes
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
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.
CISA KEV status
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:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2021-38645CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-38645CVE reference · government-resource
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.