Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
An authenticated user could disrupt IBM Tivoli/Security Key Lifecycle Manager by sending specially crafted HTTP requests. The main business risk is service instability for systems depending on centralized key management, not data theft. Public sources rate it medium severity.
Executive priority
Treat as a planned priority unless the service is internet-exposed, broadly reachable internally, or critical to production encryption workflows. Key management outages can create downstream operational disruption even when the CVSS score is only medium.
Technical view
CVE-2021-38974 affects IBM Tivoli/Security Key Lifecycle Manager 3.0, 3.0.1, 4.0, and 4.1. CVSS 3.0 is 5.4: network reachable, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, no confidentiality impact, low integrity and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Organizations running the listed IBM Key Lifecycle Manager versions are potentially exposed, especially where the HTTP interface is reachable by many authenticated users or broad internal networks. Exposure is lower when administrative interfaces are tightly segmented and account access is limited.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited active exploitation. Exploitation requires authentication, which reduces opportunistic internet-scale risk but still matters for insider threat, compromised accounts, or overly broad access.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to CVE, IBM advisory, and IBM X-Force references. No CWE is listed in the bundle. Avoid assuming exploit availability, patch version mapping, or affected configurations beyond the provided IBM product and version list.
Mitigation direction
- Review IBM advisory 6516046 and apply the vendor-recommended fix or supported upgrade.
- Restrict Key Lifecycle Manager HTTP access to trusted administrative networks.
- Limit authenticated access to users and service accounts with a business need.
- Monitor service health and failed or unusual authenticated HTTP activity.
Validation and detection
- Inventory IBM Tivoli/Security Key Lifecycle Manager deployments and confirm exact versions.
- Check whether affected HTTP services are reachable beyond trusted administration paths.
- Review authentication logs for unusual activity around service instability.
- Confirm remediation status against IBM advisory 6516046, not inferred version assumptions.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
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-2021-38974 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.4 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/UI:N/C:N/AV:N/I:L/S:U/A:L/PR:L/AC:L/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
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.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe 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.
CVSS:3.0/UI:N/C:N/AV:N/I:L/S:U/A:L/PR:L/AC:L/E:U/RL:O/RC:C2.82.5Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
5.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/UI:N/C:N/AV:N/I:L/S:U/A:L/PR:L/AC:L/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6516046CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- ibm-tivoli-cve202138974-dos (212779)CVE reference · vdb-entry, x_refsource_XF
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.