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CVE Record

CVE-2021-38882: IBM Spectrum Scale 5.1.0 through 5.1.1.1 could allow a privileged admin to destroy filesystem audit logging...

IBM Spectrum Scale 5.1.0 through 5.1.1.1 could allow a privileged admin to destroy filesystem audit logging records before expiration time. IBM X-Force ID: 209164.

MediumCVSS 4.4Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This issue lets a highly privileged IBM Spectrum Scale administrator destroy filesystem audit log records before their retention period ends. It is not described as a remote compromise path, but it can undermine investigations, compliance evidence, and trust in administrator accountability.

Executive priority

Treat as a moderate governance and forensic integrity risk. It does not indicate remote code execution, but it can weaken incident response and compliance assurance if affected systems rely on Spectrum Scale audit logs as authoritative evidence.

Technical view

CVE-2021-38882 affects IBM Spectrum Scale 5.1.0 through 5.1.1.1. The CVSS data indicates local access, high privileges, low complexity, no user interaction, unchanged scope, and high integrity impact. The affected asset is filesystem audit logging records; no confidentiality or availability impact is stated.

Likely exposure

Exposure appears limited to IBM Spectrum Scale deployments on versions 5.1.0 through 5.1.1.1. The practical risk is highest where privileged administrators can manage or access audit logging and where audit retention supports compliance, forensics, or insider-threat monitoring.

Exploitation context

The provided sources do not report active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV. Exploitation requires a privileged administrator, so this is mainly an insider, compromised-admin-account, or weak-segregation-of-duties concern rather than broad internet-facing exposure.

Researcher notes

No CWE is provided in the bundle. IBM identifies this as X-Force ID 209164. Evidence is clear on affected versions and impact category, but the prompt does not include a specific fixed version, workaround, or exploit details.

Mitigation direction

  • Check IBM advisory guidance for official fixes or supported upgrade paths.
  • Prioritize upgrades for affected Spectrum Scale 5.1.0 through 5.1.1.1 deployments.
  • Restrict privileged administrative access using least privilege and strong approval workflows.
  • Protect audit logs with external retention, monitoring, or write-once controls where feasible.
  • Review operational procedures for premature audit log deletion.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory IBM Spectrum Scale versions across all clusters.
  • Confirm whether any systems run 5.1.0 through 5.1.1.1.
  • Review privileged administrator groups and recent membership changes.
  • Check audit log retention settings against policy requirements.
  • Look for evidence of audit records removed before expiration.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
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.

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CVE-2021-38882 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
4.4 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

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

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
4.4CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/C:N/AV:L/S:U/A:N/AC:L/I:H/PR:H/UI:N/RL:O/RC:C/E:U0.83.6Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

4.4Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-38882Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

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

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
IBMSpectrum Scale5.1.0, 5.1.1.1Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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