CVE-2021-38990
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 AIX 7.1, 7.2, and VIOS 3.1 could allow a non-privileged local user to exploit a vulnerability in the mount command which could lead to code execution. IBM X-Force ID: 212952.
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 confidenceA local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the mount command on IBM AIX 7.1, 7.2, and VIOS 3.1. A non-privileged local user can exploit this vulnerability to achieve code execution, likely with elevated privileges. This is a local-only attack requiring prior system access.
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= 3.1= 7.1= 7.2CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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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Identify AIX or VIOS versionRun 'oslevel -s' on AIX or 'oem_platform_level' and 'ioslevel' on VIOS to get the exact version numberAffected if The version is exactly 7.1.x, 7.2.x, or VIOS 3.1.x
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Verify mount command accessibilityCheck if non-root users can execute mount: run 'ls -l /usr/sbin/mount' and attempt 'mount -v' as a non-privileged userAffected if Non-privileged users have execute access to the mount command
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Inspect mount command permissionsRun 'ls -la /usr/sbin/mount' to check owner, group, and permission bitsAffected if The mount binary is owned by root but world-executable, or has unexpected permissions
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Check for unauthorized mount entriesRun 'mount' as an unprivileged user to list currently active mountsAffected if Non-root users can execute mount and see mounts they should not access
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Review mount-related audit logsCheck /var/log/audit or use 'audit' command to search for mount command executions: 'auditpr -t exec -e /usr/sbin/mount'Affected if There are mount command executions by non-privileged users, especially with unusual options
A system is affected if it runs AIX 7.1, 7.2, or VIOS 3.1 and non-privileged users have access to execute the mount command.
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 dataApply IBM's security patches for CVE-2021-38990 to affected AIX and VIOS systems. Until patches are applied, limit local system access to trusted users and monitor for suspicious mount command usage.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-38990 — 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-2021-38990 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
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