CVE-2021-21591
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 · uneditedDell EMC Unity, Unity XT, and UnityVSA versions prior to 5.1.0.0.5.394 contain a plain-text password storage vulnerability. A local malicious user with high privileges may use the exposed password to gain access with the privileges of the compromised user.
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 · high confidenceDell EMC Unity, Unity XT, and UnityVSA versions prior to 5.1.0.0.5.394 store user passwords in plain text rather than using proper encryption or hashing. A local authenticated attacker with high privileges can access these exposed credentials and use them to impersonate other users, escalating their privileges within the system.
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< 5.1.0.0.5.394< 5.1.0.0.5.394< 5.1.0.0.5.394CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Unity product versionAccess the system management interface or run the command to retrieve the operating environment version (e.g., via CLI or management GUI)Affected if The reported version is earlier than 5.1.0.0.5.394
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Determine the exact build versionRetrieve the full version string including the build number (e.g., via 'version' command or system info page)Affected if The build number is below .5.394
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Locate password storage filesAs an authenticated administrator, examine the configuration or database files where user credentials are stored (consult product documentation for password file locations)Affected if Passwords are found stored in plain text rather than being encrypted or hashed
You are affected if your Unity, Unity XT, or UnityVSA version is below 5.1.0.0.5.394 and plain text passwords are present in the credential storage.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data5.1.0.0.5.394
Upgrade Dell EMC Unity, Unity XT, or UnityVSA to version 5.1.0.0.5.394 or later, which addresses the plain-text password storage vulnerability. After upgrading, verify that all stored passwords are now properly encrypted.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-21591 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-21591 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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