Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Pentaho Business Analytics Server could expose database passwords over the network in clear text when Data Lineage is enabled. Anyone able to observe that traffic could capture credentials and reuse them for unauthorized access. This is high urgency for deployments using affected Pentaho versions with Data Lineage active.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority credential exposure issue if Pentaho is used for analytics or reporting. The business risk is unauthorized database access from captured passwords, especially in environments carrying sensitive reporting data.
Technical view
CVE-2021-45447 is a CWE-319 clear-text transmission flaw in Hitachi Vantara Pentaho Business Analytics Server before 9.3.0.0, 9.2.0.2, and 8.3.0.25 when Data Lineage is enabled. The CVSS 3.1 score is 7.7 with network attack vector and high integrity and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to Pentaho Business Analytics Server deployments running affected versions with the Data Lineage feature enabled. The key risk is internal or adjacent network access to traffic carrying database credentials, not merely public internet reachability.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or any cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation would require access to observe relevant network traffic, after which captured database passwords could support unauthorized access.
Researcher notes
The public evidence identifies the vulnerable condition and fixed version thresholds but provides limited operational detail. Validate version, Data Lineage status, and network visibility assumptions before estimating exploitability. Do not claim active exploitation from the provided sources.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade affected Pentaho Business Analytics Server instances to a fixed version or later.
- Confirm remediation steps against the Hitachi Vantara advisory before production changes.
- Identify deployments with Data Lineage enabled and prioritize them first.
- Rotate database passwords if network exposure may have occurred before remediation.
- Restrict access to systems and network paths that handle Pentaho database traffic.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Pentaho Business Analytics Server versions across environments.
- Check whether the Data Lineage feature is enabled on each deployment.
- Verify affected instances are upgraded to 9.3.0.0, 9.2.0.2, 8.3.0.25, or later.
- Review network monitoring for unusual database authentication or credential misuse.
- Confirm database passwords were rotated where exposure could not be ruled out.
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 lookupDatabase behavior lookup
The CVE wording references database injection or access, so collection and exfiltration review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-45447 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7.7 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H2.25.5Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.7HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://support.pentaho.com/hc/en-us/articles/6744504393101CVE reference
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.