CVE-2021-40042
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 · uneditedThere is a release of invalid pointer vulnerability in some Huawei products, successful exploit may cause the process and service abnormal. Affected product versions include: CloudEngine 12800 V200R019C10SPC800, V200R019C10SPC900; CloudEngine 5800 V200R019C10SPC800, V200R020C00SPC600; CloudEngine 6800 versions V200R019C10SPC800, V200R019C10SPC900, V200R020C00SPC600, V300R020C00SPC200; CloudEngine 7800 V200R019C10SPC800.
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 confidenceThis is a release of invalid pointer vulnerability in Huawei CloudEngine switch firmware. An invalid pointer is dereferenced during memory release operations, leading to memory corruption that can cause the affected process or service to become abnormal.
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= v200r019c10spc800= v200r019c10spc900= v200r019c10spc800= v200r020c00spc600= v200r019c10spc800= v200r019c10spc900= v200r020c00spc600= v300r020c00spc200= v200r019c10spc800CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 CloudEngine switch modelRun the command to display device information, typically 'display device' or 'display version' in the switch CLIAffected if The model is a CloudEngine 12800, 5800, 6800, or 7800
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Determine installed firmware versionRun the command to display the VRP (Versatile Routing Platform) version, typically 'display version' or check the bootrom versionAffected if The firmware version matches one of the affected versions listed: v200r019c10spc800, v200r019c10spc900, v200r020c00spc600, or v300r020c00spc200
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Compare version against affected rangesMatch your exact firmware version string to the affected versions for your specific modelAffected if Your installed version exactly matches any version listed for your CloudEngine model in the affected products list
You are affected if you have a CloudEngine 12800, 5800, 6800, or 7800 running any of the specific firmware versions listed (v200r019c10spc800, v200r019c10spc900, v200r020c00spc600, or v300r020c00spc200) matching your model.
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 Huawei security updates or upgrade to patched firmware versions as specified in the Huawei security advisory. For systems that cannot be immediately patched, consider network segmentation to limit exposure.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,608.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-40042 — 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-2021-40042 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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