CVE-2021-39074
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 Security Guardium 11.4 is vulnerable to cross-site scripting. This vulnerability allows users to embed arbitrary JavaScript code in the Web UI thus altering the intended functionality potentially leading to credentials disclosure within a trusted session.
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 confidenceIBM Security Guardium 11.4 contains a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in its Web UI. Attackers can embed arbitrary JavaScript code into the Web interface, potentially altering functionality and enabling credential disclosure within trusted user sessions.
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= 11.4CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/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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Confirm IBM Security Guardium is installedLocate the Guardium installation directory or check system services for 'guardium' or 'Guardium' processesAffected if The product IBM Security Guardium is not present on the system
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Verify the installed version is 11.4Run the Guardium version command or check the product information file (typically via 'guardium_version' command or in /opt/guardium/version file)Affected if The installed version is exactly 11.4 (other versions are not affected by this specific CVE)
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Confirm Web UI component is accessibleCheck if the Guardium Web UI port (typically 8443 or 443) is open and responding, or verify the 'guardiumUI' or similar web service is runningAffected if The Web UI interface is exposed and accessible to users
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Inspect Web UI input fields for XSS vulnerabilityUse a browser or HTTP tool to submit test payloads with script tags in Web UI input forms (login, search, configuration fields) and check if the input is reflected without encodingAffected if User-supplied input in Web UI fields is reflected back unescaped in the response
The environment is affected only if IBM Security Guardium version 11.4 is installed AND the Web UI component is accessible, as the XSS vulnerability exists specifically in the Web interface of this version.
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 the IBM security patch for CVE-2021-39074. Implement proper input validation and output encoding for all user-supplied data in the Web UI to prevent XSS attacks.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-39074 — 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-2021-39074 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data