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CVE Record

CVE-2021-38949: IBM MQ 7.5, 8.0, 9.0 LTS, 9.1 CD, and 9.1 LTS stores user credentials in plain clear text which can be read...

IBM MQ 7.5, 8.0, 9.0 LTS, 9.1 CD, and 9.1 LTS stores user credentials in plain clear text which can be read by a local user. IBM X-Force ID: 211403.

MediumCVSS 6.2Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

IBM MQ can store user credentials in clear text on affected versions. A person with local access to the system could read those credentials, creating risk of account compromise and follow-on access to messaging infrastructure.

Executive priority

Treat this as a moderate-priority credential exposure issue. It is not described as remotely exploitable or actively exploited, but MQ often supports critical business messaging. Fix affected systems and rotate exposed credentials where local access risk exists.

Technical view

CVE-2021-38949 affects IBM MQ 7.5, 8.0, 9.0 LTS, 9.1 CD, and 9.1 LTS. The weakness is local clear-text credential exposure with CVSS 6.2. The vector indicates local access, low complexity, no user interaction, and high confidentiality impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely on systems running the listed IBM MQ versions where local users, service accounts, administrators, or compromised local processes can access MQ credential storage locations. The provided sources do not identify other IBM products or later versions as affected.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. The CVSS vector is local, not remote network exploitation. Risk increases if untrusted users have shell, file, or operational access to affected MQ hosts.

Researcher notes

Evidence is limited to the CVE record, IBM advisory reference, and IBM X-Force entry. No CWE is listed in the bundle. Do not broaden scope beyond IBM MQ versions named by IBM/CVE without additional vendor evidence.

Mitigation direction

  • Review IBM advisory guidance for affected versions and apply vendor-provided fixes or upgrades.
  • Prioritize MQ hosts with shared local access, administrative jump boxes, or exposed service accounts.
  • Restrict local file access to MQ configuration and credential storage paths.
  • Rotate exposed or potentially exposed MQ-related credentials after remediation.
  • Retire unsupported affected MQ versions where vendor fixes are unavailable.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory IBM MQ deployments and confirm versions against the affected list.
  • Check whether local users or service accounts can access MQ credential storage areas.
  • Verify IBM remediation or fixed maintenance level has been applied.
  • Review credential exposure risk and rotate any credentials that may have been stored clear text.
  • Confirm monitoring covers unusual MQ account use after remediation.
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-2021-38949 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
6.2 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/C:H/AV:L/S:U/A:N/AC:L/I:N/UI:N/PR:N/RC:C/E:U/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
6.2CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/C:H/AV:L/S:U/A:N/AC:L/I:N/UI:N/PR:N/RC:C/E:U/RL:O2.53.6Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

6.2Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-38949Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/C:H/AV:L/S:U/A:N/AC:L/I:N/UI:N/PR:N/RC:C/E:U/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
IBMMQ8.0.0, 9.0.0, 9.1.0, 7.5.0Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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