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CVE Record

CVE-2021-38890: IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services 1.0 and 6.0 uses an inadequate account lockout setting that could...

IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services 1.0 and 6.0 uses an inadequate account lockout setting that could allow a remote attacker to brute force account credentials. IBM X-Force ID: 209507.

MediumCVSS 5.9Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services 1.0 and 6.0 may not lock accounts effectively after repeated failed logins. A remote attacker could try to guess credentials. The rated impact is medium, but successful compromise could expose sensitive data through a valid account.

Executive priority

Treat this as a moderate-priority identity control issue. It is not cited as actively exploited, but exposed deployments could let attackers work toward valid credentials and data access.

Technical view

CVE-2021-38890 is an inadequate account lockout weakness in IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services 1.0 and 6.0. The CVSS 3.0 score is 5.9, network-accessible, unauthenticated, high attack complexity, with high confidentiality impact and no listed integrity or availability impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is likely limited to organizations running IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services 1.0 or 6.0, especially where the service is reachable over a network and account lockout controls are weak or misconfigured.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. IBM describes the issue as remotely exploitable through brute forcing credentials, but the CVSS vector marks exploitation as unproven and attack complexity high.

Researcher notes

The bundle names no CWE and provides limited remediation detail beyond IBM references. Analysis should stay tied to affected versions 1.0 and 6.0, CVSS 5.9, and the described brute-force risk from inadequate lockout behavior.

Mitigation direction

  • Identify all IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services 1.0 and 6.0 deployments.
  • Review IBM advisory guidance for official fixes, configuration changes, or supported upgrade paths.
  • Restrict network access to trusted users and administrative networks where feasible.
  • Enforce strong passwords and external identity controls where supported.
  • Monitor for repeated authentication failures and unusual account access.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm deployed product name and version against IBM affected versions.
  • Review account lockout and authentication policy settings for the service.
  • Check authentication logs for repeated failures against Connect:Direct Web Services accounts.
  • Validate lockout behavior in a controlled, authorized test environment.
  • Verify any IBM-recommended fix or upgrade is applied successfully.
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-2021-38890 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.9 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/I:N/S:U/PR:N/AC:H/UI:N/AV:N/A:N/C:H/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
5.9CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/I:N/S:U/PR:N/AC:H/UI:N/AV:N/A:N/C:H/RL:O/RC:C/E:U2.23.6Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

5.9Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-38890Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/I:N/S:U/PR:N/AC:H/UI:N/AV:N/A:N/C:H/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
IBMConnect:Direct Web Services6.0, 1.0Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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