Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
IBM Security Guardium can keep user credentials in clear text on affected versions. An attacker already holding privileged local access could read those credentials, creating a confidentiality risk and possible follow-on access risk. The issue is not described as remotely exploitable in the provided sources.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate-priority confidentiality issue. Prioritize faster where Guardium is used in sensitive database security environments or where many administrators, contractors, or shared support accounts have privileged local access.
Technical view
CVE-2021-39077 affects IBM Security Guardium 10.5, 10.6, and 11.0 through 11.4. The weakness is clear-text storage of user credentials, mapped to CWE-319. CVSS 3.1 is 4.4: local attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction, high confidentiality impact only.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in organizations running the listed IBM Security Guardium versions. Risk depends on who has privileged local access to Guardium systems and whether stored credentials are reusable across other systems or administrative workflows.
Exploitation context
The provided bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation requires local privileged access, so this is mainly a post-compromise or insider-risk issue rather than an internet-facing entry point.
Researcher notes
The key constraint is PR:H with AV:L, so validation should focus on reachable privileged access paths and credential blast radius. The source bundle does not provide exploit details, active exploitation, or specific fixed versions beyond the IBM advisory reference.
Mitigation direction
- Identify Guardium deployments running versions 10.5, 10.6, or 11.0 through 11.4.
- Review IBM advisory guidance for fixed levels or vendor-approved remediation.
- Restrict and audit privileged local access to Guardium hosts.
- Rotate affected credentials after remediation if exposure is plausible.
- Review credential reuse involving Guardium-managed accounts.
Validation and detection
- Confirm installed IBM Security Guardium versions against the affected list.
- Check which users and service accounts have privileged local access.
- Review IBM X-Force ID 215587 and the IBM advisory for remediation status.
- Assess whether any clear-text stored credentials could grant broader access.
- Document compensating controls until vendor guidance is applied.
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.
CWE-319: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-39077 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
- 4.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N0.83.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6831647CVE reference · vendor-advisory
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/215587CVE reference · vdb-entry
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.
Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.