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CVE Record

CVE-2021-38872: IBM DataPower Gateway 10.0.2.0, 10.0.3.0, 10.0.1.0 through 10.0.1.4, and 2018.4.1.0 through 2018.4.1.17 cou...

IBM DataPower Gateway 10.0.2.0, 10.0.3.0, 10.0.1.0 through 10.0.1.4, and 2018.4.1.0 through 2018.4.1.17 could allow a remote user to cause a denial of service by consuming resources with multiple requests. IBM X-Force ID: 208348.

MediumCVSS 5.3Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This IBM DataPower Gateway issue lets an unauthenticated remote user degrade service availability by sending multiple requests that consume resources. The public data indicates a medium-severity denial-of-service risk, not data theft or code execution. Business urgency depends on whether affected DataPower versions protect critical APIs or integration paths.

Executive priority

Treat as a moderate availability risk. Prioritize remediation where DataPower protects revenue, customer access, partner integrations, or critical API traffic. Lower urgency may be reasonable for isolated, non-critical systems.

Technical view

CVE-2021-38872 affects IBM DataPower Gateway 10.0.2.0, 10.0.3.0, 10.0.1.0-10.0.1.4, and 2018.4.1.0-2018.4.1.17. CVSS 5.3 reflects network attack vector, no privileges, low complexity, no user interaction, and low availability impact only.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely where affected DataPower Gateway versions are internet-facing or reachable by untrusted networks. Internal deployments still matter if they front critical APIs, partner integrations, or authentication-sensitive services.

Exploitation context

The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. The issue is described as remote denial of service through resource consumption using multiple requests; no source-provided exploit details are included.

Researcher notes

The public bundle supports affected versions, CVSS vector, and denial-of-service impact. It does not provide CWE mapping, detailed trigger conditions, patched version specifics, or exploitation evidence. Validation should stay version-based and vendor-advisory-driven.

Mitigation direction

  • Identify DataPower Gateway instances running the affected versions.
  • Review IBM advisory and apply the official IBM-supported fix or mitigation.
  • Prioritize gateways serving public, partner, or business-critical API traffic.
  • Monitor capacity and request-rate controls around exposed gateways.
  • Escalate unresolved exposed systems into vulnerability management tracking.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory DataPower Gateway versions across production and non-production environments.
  • Compare each instance against the affected version ranges in the sources.
  • Check IBM advisory status for fixed releases or required configuration changes.
  • Review monitoring for resource exhaustion or abnormal request spikes.
  • Confirm upgraded systems report non-affected versions after remediation.
Prepared
Confidence
high
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

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CVE-2021-38872 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.3 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/PR:N/I:N/C:N/AV:N/A:L/AC:L/UI:N/S:U/RL:O/E:U/RC:C

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
5.3CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/PR:N/I:N/C:N/AV:N/A:L/AC:L/UI:N/S:U/RL:O/E:U/RC:C3.91.4Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

5.3Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-38872Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/PR:N/I:N/C:N/AV:N/A:L/AC:L/UI:N/S:U/RL:O/E:U/RC:C

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
IBMDataPower Gateway2018.4.1.0, 10.0.1.0, 10.0.1.4, 10.0.2.0, 10.0.3.0, 2018.4.1.17Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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