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CVE Record

CVE-2021-38960: IBM OPENBMC OP920, OP930, and OP940 could allow an unauthenticated user to obtain sensitive information.

IBM OPENBMC OP920, OP930, and OP940 could allow an unauthenticated user to obtain sensitive information. IBM X-Force ID: 212047.

MediumCVSS 5.3Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2021-38960 is an IBM OpenBMC information disclosure issue. An unauthenticated network user could obtain sensitive information from affected OP920, OP930, and OP940 environments. The business risk is exposure of management-plane details, not direct system takeover based on the provided evidence.

Executive priority

Treat this as a management-plane hardening issue with moderate urgency. Patch or mitigate during the normal vulnerability cycle, but accelerate remediation for externally reachable BMC or HMC interfaces.

Technical view

The CVSS 3.0 vector is 5.3 medium: network reachable, low complexity, no privileges or user interaction, unchanged scope, low confidentiality impact, and no integrity or availability impact. Affected entries list IBM OPENBMC OP920, OP930, OP940, and IBM HMC OP940.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely where IBM OpenBMC or HMC management interfaces for the listed versions are reachable from untrusted networks. Organizations without these IBM platform management components are not indicated as affected by the supplied sources.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. The CVSS vector indicates unauthenticated network access is possible, but the documented impact is limited to sensitive information disclosure.

Researcher notes

Public details in the bundle are sparse: no CWE is listed, and no affected CPEs are provided. Do not generalize beyond the named IBM OpenBMC and HMC versions without additional vendor evidence.

Mitigation direction

  • Check IBM support guidance for the vendor-provided fix or update path.
  • Prioritize affected management interfaces exposed to untrusted networks.
  • Restrict BMC and HMC access to dedicated management networks.
  • Require firewall, VPN, or administrative network controls around management endpoints.
  • Monitor vendor advisories for any updated remediation details.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory IBM OpenBMC OP920, OP930, OP940, and HMC OP940 deployments.
  • Compare installed levels against IBM advisory guidance.
  • Confirm BMC and HMC endpoints are not internet exposed.
  • Review access logs for unexpected unauthenticated requests.
  • Verify remediation status after applying vendor guidance.
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-2021-38960 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
5.3 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/PR:N/I:N/AC:L/S:U/A:N/UI:N/C:L/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
5.3CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/PR:N/I:N/AC:L/S:U/A:N/UI:N/C:L/RL:O/E:U/RC:C3.91.4Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

5.3Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-38960Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/PR:N/I:N/AC:L/S:U/A:N/UI:N/C:L/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
IBMOPENBMCOP920, OP930, OP940Listed
IBMHMCOP940Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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