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CVE Record

CVE-2021-38967: IBM MQ Appliance 9.2 CD and 9.2 LTS could allow a local privileged user to inject and execute malicious code.

IBM MQ Appliance 9.2 CD and 9.2 LTS could allow a local privileged user to inject and execute malicious code. IBM X-Force ID: 212441.

HighCVSS 8.2Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This flaw affects IBM MQ Appliance 9.2 CD and 9.2 LTS. A user who already has privileged local access could inject and run malicious code, potentially compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the appliance.

Executive priority

Treat as a high-priority infrastructure remediation if IBM MQ Appliance 9.2 is present. The flaw requires privileged local access, so urgency depends on admin exposure, but successful misuse could affect critical messaging availability and data trust.

Technical view

CVE-2021-38967 is a local code-execution issue in IBM MQ Appliance 9.2 releases. The CVSS 3.0 score is 8.2, with local attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction, and high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to organizations running IBM MQ Appliance 9.2 CD or 9.2 LTS versions listed in the source bundle, especially 9.2.0.0 through 9.2.3 variants. Internet exposure is not indicated because the attack vector is local.

Exploitation context

The provided sources do not show active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV. The CVSS temporal vector marks exploit maturity as unproven. Risk is higher where privileged appliance access is broadly shared or weakly audited.

Researcher notes

The public description is sparse: it confirms local privileged code injection and execution but does not provide root cause details in the supplied bundle. Avoid assuming remote reachability or public exploit availability. Focus validation on affected version presence and privileged access paths.

Mitigation direction

  • Review IBM’s advisory for the official remediation path.
  • Update affected IBM MQ Appliance 9.2 systems according to IBM guidance.
  • Restrict privileged local appliance access to essential administrators.
  • Review privileged account use and remove unnecessary access.
  • Monitor appliance integrity and administrative activity for suspicious changes.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory IBM MQ Appliance deployments and installed versions.
  • Confirm whether any appliance runs affected 9.2 CD or 9.2 LTS versions.
  • Check IBM advisory status for fixed or recommended target versions.
  • Review local privileged users and recent administrative activity.
  • Confirm remediation through vendor-supported version or configuration evidence.
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-2021-38967 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
8.2 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/S:C/UI:N/A:H/C:H/AV:L/I:H/AC:L/PR:H/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
8.2CVSS 3.0HighCVSS:3.0/S:C/UI:N/A:H/C:H/AV:L/I:H/AC:L/PR:H/RC:C/E:U/RL:O1.56Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

8.2High
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-38967Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/S:C/UI:N/A:H/C:H/AV:L/I:H/AC:L/PR:H/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
IBMMQ Appliance9.2.0.0, 9.2.1, 9.2.0.1, 9.2.2, 9.2.0.2, 9.2.0.3, 9.2.3Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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