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Nextscale N1200 Enclosure FirmwareOperating system · Lenovo

CVE-2021-3897

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 44a-3.70 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
An authentication bypass vulnerability was discovered in an internal service of the Lenovo Fan Power Controller2 (FPC2) and Lenovo System Management Module (SMM) firmware during an that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to execute commands on the SMM and FPC2. SMM2 is not affected.

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 · moderate confidence

An authentication bypass vulnerability exists in the internal service of Lenovo Fan Power Controller2 (FPC2) and Lenovo System Management Module (SMM) firmware that allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands on affected components. SMM2 is explicitly not affected.

MitigationApply Lenovo firmware updates for FPC2 and SMM when released, as this is a firmware-level vulnerability requiring vendor patches; network segmentation may help limit exposure until updates are available.

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
Nextscale N1200 Enclosure FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< fhet50b-2.90
Thinkagile Hx Enclosure Certified Node FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< tesm28b-1.21
Thinkagile Vx Enclosure FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< tesm28b-1.21
Thinksystem D2 Enclosure FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< tesm28b-1.21
Nextscale Fan Power Controller FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 44a-3.70

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the enclosure model
    Locate the physical enclosure or check system inventory for one of: Lenovo Nextscale N1200, Lenovo Thinkagile Hx, Lenovo Thinkagile Vx, Lenovo Thinksystem D2, or IBM Nextscale. Use BMC/IPMI or system management interface to retrieve the enclosure name.
    Affected if The enclosure is any of these five models.
  2. Determine the enclosure firmware version
    Access the BMC or management module web interface, or run IPMI command `ipmi-fru` or `ipmi-dcmi get asset info` to retrieve the current firmware version string.
    Affected if The firmware version string matches one of the affected patterns (e.g., fhet50b-2.90, tesm28b-1.21, 44a-3.70) but is lower than the fixed version.
  3. Verify the controller type
    Check the management module or firmware inventory to identify whether the Fan Power Controller is FPC2 or the System Management Module is SMM (not SMM2). This may be visible in the firmware version string or component listing.
    Affected if The system uses FPC2 or SMM (SMM2 is explicitly not affected per the CVE).
  4. Compare version against affected ranges
    Match your installed firmware version to these thresholds: Lenovo Nextscale N1200 < fhet50b-2.90, Thinkagile Hx/Vx and Thinksystem D2 < tesm28b-1.21, IBM Nextscale FPC < 44a-3.70. Use string comparison on the numeric portions.
    Affected if Your installed version is lower than the specified threshold for your model.

You are affected if your enclosure model is in the affected list, the controller is FPC2 or SMM (not SMM2), and the installed firmware version is below the threshold for your specific model.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 44a-3.70 or later
Fixed in 44a-3.70
Interim mitigation

Apply Lenovo firmware updates for FPC2 and SMM when released, as this is a firmware-level vulnerability requiring vendor patches; network segmentation may help limit exposure until updates are available.

Recommended fix High confidence

fhet50b-2.90 (Nextscale N1200), tesm28b-1.21 (Thinkagile Hx/Vx, Thinksystem D2), 44a-3.70 (Nextscale Fan Power Controller)

  1. 1. Identify the specific Lenovo enclosure or fan power controller model from the affected product list
  2. 2. Determine the current firmware version currently installed on the device
  3. 3. Navigate to Lenovo support portal (support.lenovo.com) and search for the firmware update using the product model number
  4. 4. Download the fixed firmware version: fhet50b-2.90 for Nextscale N1200, tesm28b-1.21 for Thinkagile Hx/Vx and Thinksystem D2, or 44a-3.70 for Nextscale Fan Power Controller
  5. 5. Review Lenovo firmware update instructions for your specific hardware
  6. 6. Apply the firmware update following Lenovo's standard update procedure, ensuring stable power during the process
  7. 7. After update completes, verify the firmware version matches the fixed release
Caveat Firmware updates typically require downtime; ensure proper planning for production environments

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Nextscale N1200 Enclosure Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-3897 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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