dbcve.org
Emc Powerscale OnefsOperating system · Dell

CVE-2021-21503

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-03-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
PowerScale OneFS 8.1.2,8.2.2 and 9.1.0 contains an improper input sanitization issue in a command. The Compadmin user could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to potential privileges escalation.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

PowerScale OneFS contains an improper input sanitization vulnerability in a specific command. The Compadmin user could exploit this to achieve privilege escalation, potentially elevating their permissions beyond their intended access level.

MitigationUpgrade PowerScale OneFS to the vendor-provided patched version. Apply proper input validation and sanitization to the affected command to prevent injection-based privilege escalation.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Emc Powerscale OnefsOperating system
Affected:= 8.1.2= 8.2.2= 9.1.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify PowerScale OneFS version
    Run 'isi version' or check the OneFS web UI under Cluster Management > Overview to find the installed OneFS version
    Affected if The installed version is 8.1.2, 8.2.2, or 9.1.0 exactly
  2. Verify Compadmin user presence
    Run 'isi auth users view compadmin' or check via OneFS web UI under Access > Users & Roles to confirm the Compadmin user account exists
    Affected if The Compadmin user account is present in the system
  3. Check Compadmin user role assignments
    Run 'isi auth users view compadmin' to view assigned roles and privileges, or inspect role mappings under Access > Roles in the web UI
    Affected if The Compadmin user has been assigned elevated or administrative privileges beyond standard access

You are affected if your PowerScale OneFS version is exactly 8.1.2, 8.2.2, or 9.1.0 AND the Compadmin user account exists with elevated privileges that could be exploited through the vulnerable command.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade PowerScale OneFS to the vendor-provided patched version. Apply proper input validation and sanitization to the affected command to prevent injection-based privilege escalation.

Fix this in Emc Powerscale Onefs Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-21503 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data