CVE-2021-38692
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 stack buffer overflow vulnerability has been reported to affect QNAP device running QVR Elite, QVR Pro, QVR Guard. If exploited, this vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code. We have already fixed this vulnerability in the following versions of QVR Elite, QVR Pro, QVR Guard: QuTS hero h5.0.0: QVR Elite 2.1.4.0 (2021/12/06) and later QuTS hero h4.5.4: QVR Elite 2.1.4.0 (2021/12/06) and later QTS 5.0.0: QVR Elite 2.1.4.0 (2021/12/06) and later QTS 4.5.4: QVR Elite 2.1.4.0 (2021/12/06) and later QTS 4.5.4: QVR Pro 2.1.3.0 (2021/12/06) and later QTS 5.0.0: QVR Pro 2.1.3.0 (2021/12/06) and later QTS 4.5.4: QVR Guard 2.1.3.0 (2021/12/06) and later QTS 5.0.0: QVR Guard 2.1.3.0 (2021/12/06) and later
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 stack buffer overflow vulnerability in QNAP QVR Elite, QVR Pro, and QVR Guard allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via overflowing a stack-allocated buffer. This is a classic memory corruption vulnerability where input exceeding buffer boundaries overwrites adjacent stack memory, potentially hijacking execution flow.
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< 2.1.4.0< 2.1.3.0< 2.1.3.0CVSS 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.
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Verify if QVR surveillance product is installedLog into QNAP QTS/QuTS hero admin interface and navigate to App Center, or run 'ls -la /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/.qpkg/QVR' via SSH to check for QVR package directoriesAffected if No QVR package directory exists - the vulnerability does not apply
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Identify which QVR product is runningCheck the installed applications via QTS App Center, or run 'cat /etc/config/qpkg.conf | grep -i qvr' to list QVR-related packagesAffected if The installed product is not QVR Elite, QVR Pro, or QVR Guard
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Check installed QVR Elite versionIn QTS App Center click on QVR Elite and view version details, or run '/opt/QVR/bin/qvrelite -v' via SSH if availableAffected if Version is below 2.1.4.0 (e.g., 2.1.3.0 or earlier)
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Check installed QVR Pro versionIn QTS App Center click on QVR Pro and view version details, or run '/opt/QVRPro/bin/qvrpro -v' via SSH if availableAffected if Version is below 2.1.3.0 (e.g., 2.1.2.0 or earlier)
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Check installed QVR Guard versionIn QTS App Center click on QVR Guard and view version details, or run '/opt/QVRGuard/bin/qvrguard -v' via SSH if availableAffected if Version is below 2.1.3.0 (e.g., 2.1.2.0 or earlier)
If any QVR product (Elite, Pro, or Guard) is installed with a version below its respective threshold (2.1.4.0 for Elite, 2.1.3.0 for Pro/Guard), the system is affected by this vulnerability.
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 · scoped2.1.3.02.1.4.0
Update to the patched versions (QVR Elite 2.1.4.0 or later; QVR Pro/QVR Guard 2.1.3.0 or later) for the applicable QTS/QuTS hero firmware. Apply network segmentation and restrict access to surveillance interfaces as compensating controls until patching is possible.
QVR Elite 2.1.4.0+ | QVR Pro 2.1.3.0+ | QVR Guard 2.1.3.0+
- 1. Identify which QVR product is running on the QNAP device (QVR Elite, QVR Pro, or QVR Guard)
- 2. Access the QNAP admin console and navigate to the QVR application settings
- 3. Check the current version of the installed QVR product
- 4. For QVR Elite: Upgrade to version 2.1.4.0 or later
- 5. For QVR Pro: Upgrade to version 2.1.3.0 or later
- 6. For QVR Guard: Upgrade to version 2.1.3.0 or later
- 7. Verify the upgrade was successful and the new version is running
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-38692 — 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-2021-38692 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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