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CVE Record

CVE-2021-39009: IBM Cognos Analytics 11.1.7, 11.2.0, and 11.2.1 stores user credentials in plain clear text which can be re...

IBM Cognos Analytics 11.1.7, 11.2.0, and 11.2.1 stores user credentials in plain clear text which can be read by a local privileged user. IBM X-Force ID: 213554.

MediumCVSS 4.4Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

IBM Cognos Analytics 11.1.7, 11.2.0, and 11.2.1 may store user credentials in clear text. The issue requires local privileged access, so it is not a typical internet-facing break-in, but it can turn host compromise or insider access into credential theft.

Executive priority

Handle in normal vulnerability remediation cadence unless Cognos hosts are shared, highly privileged, or already under investigation. The business risk is credential exposure, not direct remote compromise.

Technical view

CVE-2021-39009 is a cleartext credential storage issue in specified IBM Cognos Analytics releases. CVSS 3.0 is 4.4 with local attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction, and confidentiality impact only.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to environments running IBM Cognos Analytics 11.1.7, 11.2.0, or 11.2.1, especially where administrators, support users, or compromised privileged accounts can access application hosts.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Abuse would require local privileged access first, making this mainly a credential-protection and post-compromise risk.

Researcher notes

No CWE is listed in the bundle. IBM X-Force ID is 213554. The CVSS vector indicates AV:L/PR:H/UI:N and C:H, with no integrity or availability impact. NetApp also published an advisory, indicating possible downstream relevance.

Mitigation direction

  • Review IBM advisory for the supported fix or upgrade path.
  • Prioritize remediation on Cognos systems with shared or sensitive credentials.
  • Restrict local privileged access to Cognos application hosts.
  • Rotate exposed credentials if cleartext storage was present.
  • Monitor vendor guidance from IBM and affected downstream vendors.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Cognos Analytics versions across all environments.
  • Confirm whether any instance runs 11.1.7, 11.2.0, or 11.2.1.
  • Check IBM advisory remediation status for each affected instance.
  • Review privileged local access paths to Cognos servers.
  • Assess whether credential rotation is required after remediation.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
5

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-2021-39009 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
4.4 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/C:H/AV:L/AC:L/I:N/S:U/A:N/UI:N/PR:H/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
4Source 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
4.4CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/C:H/AV:L/AC:L/I:N/S:U/A:N/UI:N/PR:H/RL:O/E:U/RC:C0.83.6Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

4.4Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2021-39009Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/C:H/AV:L/AC:L/I:N/S:U/A:N/UI:N/PR:H/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
IBMCognos Analytics11.2.0, 11.1.7, 11.2.1Listed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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