Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This vulnerability can let an attacker disrupt a Dräger Atlan A350 anesthesia device by sending malformed data through its Medibus interface. The reported impact develops over hours and can affect data transmission, real-time curve display, and displayed airway pressure consistency. This is operationally important in clinical environments but is not reported as actively exploited.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate patient-care operational risk, not an internet-wide emergency. Prioritize affected anesthesia devices in active clinical use and require biomedical engineering coordination with Dräger guidance.
Technical view
CVE-2021-4479 is improper input handling in Dräger Atlan A350 versions 1.00 through 1.01. Non-Medibus-compliant input via the Medibus interface can overload the internal processor, causing denial-of-service symptoms. CVSS v4.0 is 6.3 with network attack vector, no privileges, no user interaction, and high attack complexity.
Likely exposure
Exposure appears limited to organizations operating Dräger Atlan A350 devices on affected software with reachable Medibus interfaces. Risk is highest where the interface is connected to broader clinical networks or untrusted systems.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing, public exploitation, or weaponized exploit evidence. Exploitation requires crafted malformed Medibus-interface traffic and is described as gradual disruption over several hours.
Researcher notes
Version evidence in the bundle states 1.00 through 1.01, while the structured affected entry lists 1.00. Fix details are not provided in the bundle, so remediation should follow Dräger’s advisory. No exploit code or active exploitation evidence is cited.
Mitigation direction
- Review Dräger’s advisory for official update or service guidance.
- Inventory Atlan A350 devices and confirm software versions.
- Restrict Medibus interface access to trusted clinical systems only.
- Segment affected devices from general-purpose or untrusted networks.
- Monitor for delayed curves, data transmission loss, or pressure display anomalies.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether any Atlan A350 runs software 1.00 or 1.01.
- Map every system connected to each Medibus interface.
- Verify network controls limit access to authorized clinical equipment.
- Review device or clinical incident records for described disruption symptoms.
- Document compensating controls if vendor remediation is not yet 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-1286: 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-2021-4479 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
- 6.3 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L
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.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
2 official scoresWe 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:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L——VulnCheckCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L2.21.4VulnCheckVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
6.3MediumVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://static.draeger.com/security/download/2021-05-04-PSA-21-124-1-Security-Advisory-Atlan.pdfCVE reference, VulnCheck · vendor-advisory
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/drager-atlan-a350-dos-via-medibus-interfaceCVE reference, VulnCheck · third-party-advisory
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.
Improper Validation of Syntactic Correctness of Input
Improper Validation of Syntactic Correctness of Input represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.