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CVE Record

CVE-2021-38999: IBM MQ Appliance could allow a local attacker to obtain sensitive information by inclusion of sensitive dat...

IBM MQ Appliance could allow a local attacker to obtain sensitive information by inclusion of sensitive data within trace.

MediumCVSS 5.1Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2021-38999 is an IBM MQ Appliance issue where sensitive information may be included in trace data. The main business risk is disclosure of secrets or operational data to someone with local access to the appliance environment. It is not described as remote code execution or service disruption.

Executive priority

Treat this as a moderate-priority confidentiality issue. Prioritize environments where IBM MQ Appliance supports sensitive business messaging or where diagnostic traces are accessible beyond tightly controlled administrators.

Technical view

IBM reports sensitive data exposure through trace on IBM MQ Appliance versions 9.2.0.0, 9.2.0.1, 9.2.0.2, 9.2.0.3, 9.2.1, 9.2.2, and 9.2.3. CVSS 5.1 reflects local attack vector, high attack complexity, high confidentiality impact, and no integrity or availability impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to organizations running the listed IBM MQ Appliance versions. Risk is most relevant where local users, support workflows, or operational processes can access diagnostic trace data that may contain sensitive information.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not indicate active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked in KEV. IBM X-Force lists exploit maturity as unproven in the provided CVSS temporal vector.

Researcher notes

Evidence supports a local information disclosure condition in trace data only. The bundle does not provide exploit details, affected CPEs, CWE mapping, or specific fixed versions, so remediation should be validated against IBM’s advisory.

Mitigation direction

  • Check IBM’s advisory for the official fixed level and remediation guidance.
  • Inventory IBM MQ Appliance versions against the affected version list.
  • Limit local access to appliance diagnostics and trace artifacts.
  • Review trace-retention and support-sharing processes for sensitive data exposure.
  • Rotate secrets if trace files may have exposed credentials or tokens.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm whether any IBM MQ Appliance runs an affected listed version.
  • Review access controls for appliance trace and diagnostic data.
  • Check whether trace files were exported, shared, or retained externally.
  • Verify remediation status against IBM’s published advisory.
  • Document any potentially exposed sensitive values for follow-up handling.
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-2021-38999 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
5.1 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/A:N/UI:N/S:U/PR:N/AC:H/AV:L/C:H/I: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/A:N/UI:N/S:U/PR:N/AC:H/AV:L/C:H/I: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-2021-38999Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/A:N/UI:N/S:U/PR:N/AC:H/AV:L/C:H/I: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
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.