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CVE Record

CVE-2021-38891: IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services 1.0 and 6.0 uses weaker than expected cryptographic algorithms tha...

IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services 1.0 and 6.0 uses weaker than expected cryptographic algorithms that could allow an attacker to decrypt highly sensitive information. IBM X-Force ID: 209508.

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 used weaker cryptography than expected. An attacker could potentially decrypt highly sensitive information. The issue is confidentiality-focused, not a system takeover or outage vulnerability in the provided sources.

Executive priority

Treat as a moderate-priority confidentiality risk. Prioritize remediation for deployments handling regulated, customer, credential, or transfer-sensitive data, especially if reachable beyond trusted internal networks.

Technical view

CVE-2021-38891 is a network-accessible cryptographic weakness in IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services 1.0 and 6.0. CVSS 3.0 is 5.9 with high attack complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, high confidentiality impact, and no integrity or availability impact.

Likely exposure

Organizations running IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services versions 1.0 or 6.0 are the known affected population. Exposure is more concerning where the service handles sensitive transfer data or is reachable over untrusted networks.

Exploitation context

The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. CVSS marks exploit maturity as unproven and attack complexity as high, but the confidentiality impact is high if exploitation is successful.

Researcher notes

Sources do not provide CWE classification, exploit details, or fixed version names in the supplied bundle. Analysis should stay bounded to IBM’s advisory, X-Force entry 209508, and CVSS evidence.

Mitigation direction

  • Review IBM advisory 6518582 for official remediation details.
  • Apply the vendor-listed fix or upgrade path for affected versions.
  • Limit network access to Connect:Direct Web Services where possible.
  • Review cryptographic configuration against IBM guidance.
  • Assess whether exposed sensitive data requires rotation or notification workflows.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory deployments of IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services.
  • Confirm whether versions 1.0 or 6.0 are present.
  • Check patch or upgrade status against IBM advisory 6518582.
  • Review service exposure from untrusted networks.
  • Document compensating controls if remediation is delayed.
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.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

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CVE-2021-38891 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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

Vector: CVSS:3.0/PR:N/S:U/AC:H/UI:N/AV:N/A:N/C:H/I:N/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
5.9CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/PR:N/S:U/AC:H/UI:N/AV:N/A:N/C:H/I:N/RL:O/E:U/RC:C2.23.6Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

5.9Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-38891Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

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

CWE details

No CWE listed

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