CVE-2021-27389
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 · uneditedA vulnerability has been identified in Opcenter Quality (All versions < V12.2), QMS Automotive (All versions < V12.30). A private sign key is shipped with the product without adequate protection.
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 confidenceA private signing key is bundled with Opcenter Quality and QMS Automotive installations without adequate protection. This allows attackers with access to the key to sign malicious updates, code, or communications as legitimate, effectively bypassing code-signing verification and authentication mechanisms.
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< 12.2< 12.30CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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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Check Opcenter Quality versionOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or use PowerShell: Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.Name -like '*Opcenter*Quality*'} | Select-Object Name, VersionAffected if Version is below 12.2 (e.g., 12.0, 12.1)
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Check QMS Automotive versionOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or use PowerShell: Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.Name -like '*QMS*Automotive*'} | Select-Object Name, VersionAffected if Version is below V12.30 (e.g., V12.0, V12.1, V12.2)
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Locate Opcenter Quality installation directoryCheck default installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Siemens\Opcenter\Quality or C:\Siemens\Opcenter\Quality, or use PowerShell: Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\Program Files\Siemens' -Recurse -Directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq 'Quality'}Affected if Installation directory exists and contains a private key file (typically .pfx, .p12, .key, .pem, or .pvk extensions)
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Locate QMS Automotive installation directoryCheck default installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Siemens\QMS\Automotive or search using PowerShell: Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\Program Files\Siemens' -Recurse -Directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object {$_.Name -match 'QMS|Automotive'Affected if Installation directory exists and contains a private key file (typically .pfx, .p12, .key, .pem, or .pvk extensions)
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Search for certificate or key files in installation foldersWithin the product installation directories, search for files with extensions .pfx, .p12, .key, .pem, .pvk, .cer, or .p7b using PowerShell: Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\Program Files\Siemens\Opcenter' -Recurse -Include *.pfx,*.p12,*.key,*.pem,*.pvk -ErrorAction SilentlyContinueAffected if Any private key or certificate bundle files are found in the product installation folder
You are affected if Opcenter Quality is below V12.2 or QMS Automotive is below V12.30, OR if a private signing key file exists in either product's installation directory.
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.
dbcve · scoped12.212.30
Update Opcenter Quality to version V12.2 or later, and QMS Automotive to version V12.30 or later, as these versions remove the exposed private key from the product distribution.
Opcenter Quality: V12.2 or later; QMS Automotive: V12.30 or later
- Identify whether the deployed product is Opcenter Quality or QMS Automotive
- For Opcenter Quality: upgrade to version 12.2 or later
- For QMS Automotive: upgrade to version 12.30 or later
- After upgrading, verify that the private sign key is no longer shipped with the product or is adequately protected
- Consult Siemens release notes for any additional post-upgrade configuration requirements
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-27389 — 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-2021-27389 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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