LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2021-38901: IBM Spectrum Protect Operations Center 7.1, under special configurations, could allow a local user to obtai...

IBM Spectrum Protect Operations Center 7.1, under special configurations, could allow a local user to obtain highly sensitive information. IBM X-Force ID: 209610.

MediumCVSS 5.1Not KEV-listedUpdated
Discuss exposureBack to CVEs
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2021-38901 is an IBM Spectrum Protect Operations Center 7.1 information disclosure issue. In special configurations, a local user could obtain highly sensitive information. The business risk is confidentiality loss on systems that still run this older Operations Center version.

Executive priority

Prioritize as moderate unless version 7.1 remains in sensitive backup infrastructure. The issue affects confidentiality, not service availability, but backup-management data can be operationally important.

Technical view

The source bundle identifies a local attack vector, high attack complexity, no user interaction, unchanged scope, and high confidentiality impact only. Integrity and availability are not affected. IBM X-Force tracks this as ID 209610.

Likely exposure

Likely exposure is limited to environments running IBM Spectrum Protect Operations Center 7.1 with the special configurations referenced by IBM. Network-only exposure is not supported by the provided sources.

Exploitation context

The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. CVSS exploit maturity is marked unproven, so treat this as a confirmed vulnerability without public evidence of exploitation in the supplied sources.

Researcher notes

Evidence is sparse in the supplied bundle. Do not broaden affected versions beyond 7.1. Focus validation on IBM advisory details, local access paths, and whether the special configuration applies.

Mitigation direction

  • Check IBM advisory node 6524924 for official remediation guidance.
  • Identify and prioritize any Spectrum Protect Operations Center 7.1 instances.
  • Restrict local access to Operations Center hosts to trusted administrators.
  • Review configurations against IBM's advisory before assuming systems are unaffected.
  • Document remediation status and compensating controls for any legacy systems.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory installed IBM Spectrum Protect Operations Center versions.
  • Confirm whether version 7.1 is present in production or backup environments.
  • Compare host configuration with IBM advisory conditions.
  • Verify local user access is limited and reviewed.
  • Check security logs for unusual local access to sensitive Operations Center data.
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

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2021-38901 mapping review

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

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.1 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AC:H/A:N/PR:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/AV:L/UI:N/RC:C/RL:O/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
5.1CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/AC:H/A:N/PR:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/AV:L/UI:N/RC:C/RL:O/E:U1.43.6Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

5.1Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-38901Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AC:H/A:N/PR:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/AV:L/UI:N/RC:C/RL:O/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 Protect Operations Center7.1Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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