CVE-2021-38928
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 Sterling B2B Integrator Standard Edition 6.0.0.0 through 6.1.2.1 uses Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) which could allow an attacker to carry out privileged actions and retrieve sensitive information as the domain name is not being limited to only trusted domains. IBM X-Force ID: 210323.
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 Sterling B2B Integrator Standard Edition versions 6.0.0.0 through 6.1.2.1 has a CORS misconfiguration that does not restrict allowed origins to trusted domains. This allows malicious cross-origin requests to perform privileged actions and exfiltrate sensitive data.
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>= 6.0.0.0, < 6.0.3.7>= 6.1.0.0, < 6.1.0.6>= 6.1.1.0, < 6.1.1.2= 6.1.2.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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 installed versionLocate and read the IBM Sterling B2B Integrator version information, typically found in the product's about page, installation directory metadata, or version file. Compare this version number against the affected ranges: 6.0.0.0 through 6.0.3.6, 6.1.0.0 through 6.1.0.5, 6.1.1.0 through 6.1.1.1, or exactly 6.1.2.0.Affected if The installed version falls within any of these affected ranges
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Locate CORS configurationIdentify where CORS policies are defined for the IBM Sterling B2B Integrator deployment. This is typically found in the application server configuration (such as WebSphere) or the embedded web server configuration files. Look for XML or properties files that control cross-origin request handling.Affected if CORS configuration exists and is accessible for inspection
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Inspect allowed origins settingExamine the CORS configuration for the 'allowedOrigins', 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header settings, or equivalent origin-whitelisting parameters. Determine whether the configuration uses a wildcard value such as '*' or allows unrestricted origins.Affected if The configuration permits wildcard ('*') or otherwise unrestricted origins for cross-origin requests
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Verify origin whitelist is explicitCheck if the CORS policy contains an explicit, finite list of trusted domain origins rather than allowing any origin. If the configuration either uses a wildcard or lacks explicit origin restrictions, the vulnerability is present.Affected if Allowed origins are not explicitly restricted to a specific list of trusted domains, or a wildcard is in use
You are affected if your IBM Sterling B2B Integrator version is 6.0.0.0-6.0.3.6, 6.1.0.0-6.1.0.5, 6.1.1.0-6.1.1.1, or 6.1.2.0 AND your CORS configuration lacks explicit origin restrictions.
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 · scoped6.0.3.76.1.0.66.1.1.2
Configure the CORS policy to explicitly whitelist only trusted domains and reject all other origins. This is typically done in the application server or web server configuration.
6.0.3.7 / 6.1.0.6 / 6.1.1.2 / 6.1.2.1 (depending on current branch)
- 1. Identify the current installed version of IBM Sterling B2B Integrator using the system administration console or version check utilities.
- 2. Determine which version branch is currently in use (6.0.x, 6.1.0.x, 6.1.1.x, or 6.1.2.x).
- 3. Plan the upgrade to the appropriate minimum fixed version for the branch: 6.0.3.7 for 6.0.x, 6.1.0.6 for 6.1.0.x, 6.1.1.2 for 6.1.1.x, or 6.1.2.1 for 6.1.2.x.
- 4. Review IBM's official upgrade documentation and release notes for the target version.
- 5. Perform a full backup of the current Sterling B2B Integrator configuration and data.
- 6. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment before applying to production.
- 7. Apply the upgrade following IBM's standard upgrade procedures.
- 8. After upgrade, verify that CORS is properly configured to restrict access to trusted domains only.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-38928 — 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-2021-38928 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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