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CVE Record

CVE-2021-3979: A key length flaw was found in Red Hat Ceph Storage.

A key length flaw was found in Red Hat Ceph Storage. An attacker can exploit the fact that the key length is incorrectly passed in an encryption algorithm to create a non random key, which is weaker and can be exploited for loss of confidentiality and integrity on encrypted disks.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2021-3979 is a cryptographic weakness in Red Hat Ceph Storage/Ceph where an encryption routine could receive an incorrect key length. That can produce weaker, non-random keys, reducing protection for encrypted disks and potentially affecting confidentiality and integrity.

Executive priority

Treat this as a focused remediation item for Ceph environments handling sensitive data. It is not KEV-listed in the bundle, but the confidentiality and integrity impact justifies timely vendor patch validation.

Technical view

The source bundle describes a CWE-327 flaw in Ceph key handling: the key length is incorrectly passed to an encryption algorithm, enabling creation of a non-random weaker key. The bundle references upstream Ceph tracking, a pull request, and a commit, but does not provide CVSS scoring or precise affected versions.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most relevant to organizations using Ceph or Red Hat Ceph Storage with encrypted disks. The provided affected version data is incomplete, so package and deployment validation must rely on vendor advisories and installed build provenance.

Exploitation context

The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitability is described at a high level as weakening encryption keys, but no public exploit status, prerequisites, or attack maturity are established in the provided sources.

Researcher notes

Evidence is incomplete: no CVSS, no exact affected versions, and no active exploitation signal are provided. The strongest technical anchors are the Red Hat CVE entry, Ceph tracker issue, upstream pull request, and commit reference.

Mitigation direction

  • Review Red Hat, Ceph, Fedora, and Debian guidance for fixed package information.
  • Update Ceph or Red Hat Ceph Storage packages from trusted vendor repositories.
  • Prioritize systems protecting sensitive data on encrypted Ceph-backed disks.
  • Document any compensating controls if vendor-fixed packages cannot be applied promptly.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Ceph and Red Hat Ceph Storage deployments using encrypted disks.
  • Compare installed package versions against applicable vendor advisories.
  • Confirm deployed builds include the upstream Ceph fix or vendor backport.
  • Review disk-encryption configuration and key-generation history where operationally feasible.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
9

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

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-327: 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.

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cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2021-3979 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
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.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
9Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/acephNot-KnownListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-327

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

CWE-327 · source CWE mapping

Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm

Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs