CVE-2021-38435
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 · uneditedRTI Connext DDS Professional and Connext DDS Secure Versions 4.2x to 6.1.0 not correctly calculate the size when allocating the buffer, which may result in a buffer overflow.
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 confidenceRTI Connext DDS Professional and Connext DDS Secure versions 4.2x through 6.1.0 contain a buffer overflow vulnerability caused by incorrect size calculation during buffer allocation. The flaw allows attackers to trigger heap or stack overflow conditions, potentially enabling remote code execution with the critical CVSS score of 9.8 indicating trivial network-exploitable impact.
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>= 4.2, < 6.1.0>= 4.2, < 6.1.0CVSS 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.
-
Identify RTI Connext DDS installationSearch for RTI Connext DDS installation directories (commonly /opt/rti or C:\Program Files\RTI on Windows) or running processes containing 'ndds' or 'rti' stringsAffected if RTI Connext DDS Professional or Secure is present on the system
-
Determine installed versionLocate version information in the installation directory - check version.txt, about.xml, or library version properties; use rti_version or nddsconfig utilities if availableAffected if The exact installed version cannot be determined or shows a version in the 4.2.x through 6.0.x range
-
Compare version against affected rangeMatch the installed version number against the affected range: versions >= 4.2 and < 6.1.0Affected if Version is 4.2.x, 5.x, or 6.0.x (any release between 4.2 and 6.0 inclusive)
-
Check for network-accessible DDS endpointsReview network configuration and firewall settings for exposed DDS communication ports (default DDS ports in the 7400-7409 range)Affected if DDS participants are reachable over the network from untrusted systems
Environment is affected if RTI Connext DDS Professional or Secure version 4.2 or higher but below 6.1.0 is installed and network-accessible DDS endpoints exist
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 · scoped6.1.0
Upgrade to a patched version of RTI Connext DDS (6.1.0 or later per vendor guidance). If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network exposure of DDS endpoints and implement defense-in-depth controls such as network segmentation.
RTI Connext DDS Professional/Secure 6.1.0 or later
- 1. Obtain RTI Connext DDS version 6.1.0 or later from the official RTI support portal (support.rti.com)
- 2. Review the RTI Connext DDS 6.1.0 release notes and migration guide for any compatibility considerations with your existing applications
- 3. Create a complete backup of your current RTI Connext DDS configuration, including domain participant QoS profiles and any custom type definitions
- 4. In a non-production test environment, install Connext DDS 6.1.0 or later and validate that your existing applications function correctly with the new version
- 5. After successful testing, schedule a maintenance window and install the upgrade on production systems
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-38435 — 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-2021-38435 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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