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CVE Record

CVE-2021-38899: IBM Cloud Pak for Data 2.5 could allow a local user with special privileges to obtain highly sensitive info...

IBM Cloud Pak for Data 2.5 could allow a local user with special privileges to obtain highly sensitive information. IBM X-Force ID: 209575.

MediumCVSS 4.4Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2021-38899 affects IBM Cloud Pak for Data 2.5. A local user who already has special privileges could obtain highly sensitive information. This is not described as remotely exploitable, but it matters where privileged local access is broadly assigned or poorly monitored.

Executive priority

Treat this as a controlled-priority remediation item. It is not presented as remotely exploitable or actively exploited, but the confidentiality impact is high for affected IBM Cloud Pak for Data 2.5 environments.

Technical view

The CVSS 3.0 vector is AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N, score 4.4. The issue is information disclosure only: high confidentiality impact, no integrity or availability impact. The public bundle does not provide CWE details or technical root cause.

Likely exposure

Exposure appears limited to environments running IBM Cloud Pak for Data 2.5 where local users have special or high privileges. Organizations not running version 2.5 are not identified as affected in the provided sources.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or public active exploitation. Exploitation requires local access and high privileges, reducing broad internet-facing risk but increasing concern for insider, compromised admin, or shared-platform scenarios.

Researcher notes

Public evidence is sparse. The advisory identifies affected product and impact, while CVSS indicates local, high-privilege, low-complexity information disclosure. Do not assume affected versions beyond 2.5 or specific data types without IBM advisory detail.

Mitigation direction

  • Review IBM advisory node 6490435 for official remediation guidance.
  • Apply IBM-provided fixes or updates for affected Cloud Pak for Data 2.5 deployments.
  • Restrict local privileged access to only required administrators.
  • Audit local privileged accounts and remove stale or unnecessary access.
  • Monitor privileged sessions for unusual access to sensitive data.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory IBM Cloud Pak for Data deployments and confirm version 2.5 exposure.
  • Verify whether local privileged users exist on affected systems.
  • Confirm IBM advisory remediation has been applied where applicable.
  • Review access logs for privileged reads of sensitive information.
  • Document compensating controls if immediate remediation is delayed.
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-2021-38899 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
4.4 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

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

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/S:U/A:N/UI:N/I:N/AC:L/AV:L/PR:H/C:H/E:U/RC:C/RL:O0.83.6Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

4.4Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-38899Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

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

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
IBMCloud Pak for Data2.5Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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