CVE-2021-29997
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in Wind River VxWorks 7 before 21.03. A specially crafted packet may lead to buffer over-read on IKE.
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 buffer over-read vulnerability exists in the IKE (Internet Key Exchange) implementation of Wind River VxWorks 7 versions prior to 21.03. Remote attackers can send specially crafted packets that cause the system to read beyond allocated buffer boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents.
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>= 7.0, < 21.03CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
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 Wind River VxWorks versionCheck the installed VxWorks 7 version using system information commands, boot parameters, or check version files in the system image. Common methods include checking /bsp/version.h, using the 'version' command in the kernel shell, or reviewing build manifests.Affected if The installed version is 7.0 or higher but below 21.03
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Confirm IKE/IPsec is enabledInspect the VxWorks configuration to determine if IKE (Internet Key Exchange) has been included and enabled. Check VxWorks kernel configuration files, IPsec/IKE runtime configuration, or use the kernel shell to list loaded IKE modules.Affected if IKE/IPsec is configured and active in the system
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Verify IKE is exposed to networkReview network interface bindings and firewall rules to determine if IKE traffic (UDP port 500, and port 4500 for NAT-T) can reach the VxWorks device from untrusted networks.Affected if IKE services are listening on accessible network interfaces and reachable from external sources
The environment is affected if VxWorks 7 version is 7.0 or higher but earlier than 21.03, and the IKE/IPsec feature is enabled and reachable on the network.
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 data21.03
Update Wind River VxWorks 7 to version 21.03 or later to obtain the vendor patch. If immediate patching is not feasible, consider restricting IKE traffic at network boundaries using firewalls or ACLs.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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-2021-29997 — 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-2021-29997 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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