CVE-2021-42254
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 · uneditedBeyondTrust Privilege Management prior to version 21.6 creates a Temporary File in a Directory with Insecure Permissions.
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 confidenceBeyondTrust Privilege Management versions prior to 21.6 create temporary files in directories with insecure permissions, potentially allowing unprivileged users to access or modify sensitive data or interfere with application operations through race conditions or symlink attacks.
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< 21.6CVSS 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 installed BeyondTrust Privilege Management versionLocate the installed BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows application and retrieve its version information. This is typically found in the program installation directory, file properties, or Windows registry under the application's uninstall or service entry.Affected if The installed version is any release prior to 21.6 (for example, 21.5.x, 21.4.x, or earlier major versions).
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Confirm version number against affected rangeCompare the identified version string to the threshold version 21.6. Ensure you capture the full version number including any minor version or build identifiers.Affected if The version number is less than 21.6 (such as versions 21.5, 21.4, 20.x, or older releases).
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Locate application temporary directoriesIdentify directories used by BeyondTrust Privilege Management for storing temporary files during operation. Check common temporary file locations used by the application, including user temp directories and application-specific temp folders.Affected if The application creates temporary files in directories accessible to unprivileged users with permissions weaker than restrictive settings (such as 700 or 750).
You are affected if BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows is installed at a version lower than 21.6, as this version range contains the insecure temporary file creation vulnerability.
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 · scoped21.6
Upgrade BeyondTrust Privilege Management to version 21.6 or later, which addresses the insecure temporary file creation. Verify that temporary directories have appropriate restrictive permissions (e.g., 700 or 750) following the upgrade.
21.6
- Verify current Privilege Management for Windows version installed
- Download BeyondTrust Privilege Management version 21.6 or later from the official BeyondTrust support portal
- Review BeyondTrust upgrade documentation for your deployment type (standalone, enterprise, etc.)
- Create a backup of current configuration settings
- Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first
- Deploy the upgrade to production systems following standard change management procedures
- Verify the upgrade was successful and the service is running properly
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-42254 — 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-2021-42254 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