Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Hitachi Energy FOXMAN-UN and UNEM used weak DES encryption for credentials that access Network Elements. If an attacker obtains the encrypted credential material, the source says it can be decrypted easily, creating a serious confidentiality risk for affected environments.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority where affected products manage sensitive Network Element access. The business risk is credential disclosure, not system outage. Prioritize inventory, vendor remediation guidance, access restriction, and credential rotation planning.
Technical view
CVE-2021-40341 is CWE-326, inadequate encryption strength. Affected FOXMAN-UN and UNEM releases R9C, R10C, R11A, R11B, R14A, R14B, R15A, R15B, and R16A use DES for user credentials. CVSS 3.1 is 7.1: local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges or user interaction, high confidentiality impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations running the listed Hitachi Energy FOXMAN-UN or UNEM versions. The issue concerns credentials used to access Network Elements, so asset owners should prioritize systems where those products store or handle such credentials.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not report active exploitation, and this CVE is not listed as KEV. The weakness is cryptographic: DES is inadequate, so compromise of encrypted credential material could lead to credential disclosure without needing product-specific exploit code.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports weak DES use and high confidentiality impact, but the provided bundle does not include patch details, exploit observations, or full advisory text. Do not assume affected versions outside the listed FOXMAN-UN and UNEM releases.
Mitigation direction
- Identify all FOXMAN-UN and UNEM deployments and record exact release versions.
- Review Hitachi Energy or ABB advisory guidance for supported updates or compensating controls.
- Restrict local access to systems storing affected Network Element credentials.
- Rotate credentials after remediation if exposure of encrypted credential material is plausible.
Validation and detection
- Compare installed versions against the affected release list in the CVE record.
- Confirm whether affected systems store credentials for Network Element access.
- Check vendor advisories for remediation status before declaring closure.
- Review access logs and file access around systems holding credential material.
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
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ATT&CK lookup starting points
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CWE-326: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-40341 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
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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:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N2.54Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.1HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
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.