Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
AquaView versions 1.60, 7.x, and 8.x contain hardcoded credentials. The reported impact is severe: a local attacker could manipulate users and system settings, creating risk to confidentiality, integrity, and availability in environments where AquaView is deployed.
Executive priority
Prioritize identifying affected AquaView deployments and applying vendor guidance. The issue is critical because credential weaknesses can undermine user and system-setting controls, but the provided evidence does not show active exploitation.
Technical view
CVE-2021-42833 is a hardcoded-credentials issue in AquaView 1.60, 7.x, and 8.x. The CVSS 3.1 score is 9.3 with local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction, changed scope, and high CIA impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most relevant to organizations with AquaView 1.60, 7.x, or 8.x installed on accessible local systems. The bundle does not provide CPEs, deployment details, or internet-exposure evidence.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cite active exploitation. Treat this as high-impact local exposure rather than confirmed in-the-wild exploitation.
Researcher notes
Key uncertainty: the bundle lists affected products as n/a while the description names AquaView 1.60, 7.x, and 8.x. Do not broaden scope beyond those versions without vendor confirmation.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory AquaView installations and identify versions 1.60, 7.x, and 8.x.
- Review Xylem advisory XPSA-AquaView-v5.0 for vendor remediation guidance.
- Review CISA ICSA-21-350-01 for operational mitigation guidance.
- Restrict local system access to trusted administrators pending vendor-directed remediation.
- Monitor vendor and CISA pages for updated fixes or compensating controls.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether AquaView is deployed in the environment.
- Record installed AquaView versions from asset inventory or system owners.
- Check local access paths to systems running affected AquaView versions.
- Verify remediation status against Xylem and CISA advisory guidance.
- Document any exceptions where affected systems cannot be immediately remediated.
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.
CVE-2021-42833 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
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
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:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H2.56Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.3CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.xylem.com/siteassets/about-xylem/cybersecurity/advisories/xpsa-aquaview-v5.0.pdfCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- ICS-CERT AdvisoryCVE reference · third-party-advisory, x_refsource_CERT
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.