CVE-2021-29687
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 · uneditedIBM Security Identity Manager 7.0.2 could allow a remote user to enumerate usernames due to a difference of responses from valid and invalid login attempts. IBM X-Force ID: 200018
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 confidenceIBM Security Identity Manager 7.0.2 returns different HTTP responses or error messages for valid usernames versus invalid usernames during login attempts. This allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to enumerate valid user accounts by observing subtle differences in authentication failure messages.
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= 6.0.2CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
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 IBM Security Identity Manager installationCheck for the product by reviewing installed software listings, service banners, or consulting system documentation. Look for processes named 'ISIM' or services running on typical ISIM ports (e.g., 9080, 9443).Affected if IBM Security Identity Manager is present on the system
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Determine installed versionCheck the version of IBM Security Identity Manager by reviewing application configuration files, About pages in the admin console, or version files in the installation directory. Compare against the affected version 6.0.2.Affected if The installed version is 6.0.2
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Test login response for non-existent usernameAttempt a login with a clearly invalid username that does not exist (e.g., 'nonexistentuser123') and note the exact error message returned.Affected if An error message is returned
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Test login response for valid username with wrong passwordAttempt a login using a known-valid username (e.g., an administrator account) with an incorrect password and note the exact error message returned. Compare word-for-word with the response from Step 3.Affected if The error message differs from Step 3 in wording, timing, or format (e.g., 'User does not exist' vs 'Invalid password' vs generic 'Invalid credentials')
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Verify response consistency across multiple attemptsRepeat Steps 3 and 4 multiple times to confirm the responses are consistent and not randomized.Affected if Differences in responses are reproducible and consistent between valid and invalid usernames
The environment is affected if IBM Security Identity Manager version 6.0.2 is installed AND the login error messages differ between non-existent usernames and valid usernames with wrong passwords.
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 dataConfigure the application to return identical error responses (e.g., 'Invalid username or password') for both invalid usernames and invalid passwords, regardless of whether the username exists.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-29687 — 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-2021-29687 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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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.
- 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