dbcve.org
VxworksOperating system · Windriver

CVE-2021-43268

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-11-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 7.0 or later.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 issue was discovered in VxWorks 6.9 through 7. In the IKE component, a specifically crafted packet may lead to reading beyond the end of a buffer, or a double free.

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 confidence

A memory corruption vulnerability exists in the IKE (Internet Key Exchange) component of VxWorks versions 6.9 through 7. Processing a specifically crafted packet can trigger either an out-of-bounds read beyond the buffer end or a double-free condition, potentially leading to denial of service or potentially remote code execution.

MitigationApply the vendor patch from Wind River for the affected VxWorks versions. If no patch is available, restrict network access to IKE services (UDP ports 500/4500) or disable IPsec VPN functionality until a fix can be deployed.

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
VxworksOperating system
Affected:>= 6.9, <= 7.0

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
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

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 operating system
    Confirm the target system is running VxWorks by checking system information, boot messages, or firmware identification
    Affected if The system is not running VxWorks (this CVE does not apply)
  2. Determine the VxWorks version
    Check the installed VxWorks version through system utilities, boot parameters, or firmware metadata
    Affected if The version is greater than or equal to 6.9 and less than or equal to 7.0 (within the affected range)
  3. Verify IKE/IPsec VPN functionality is enabled
    Inspect system configuration for IPsec VPN or IKE daemon settings, check if VPN tunnels are configured
    Affected if IKE services or IPsec VPN is enabled and processing IKE packets
  4. Check for open IKE ports
    Scan for UDP ports 500 (ISAKMP) and 4500 (NAT-T) listening on the system
    Affected if UDP ports 500 or 4500 are open and accepting IKE packets

The system is affected if it runs VxWorks version 6.9 through 7.0 with IKE/IPsec VPN functionality enabled and exposed on the network.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 7.0
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch from Wind River for the affected VxWorks versions. If no patch is available, restrict network access to IKE services (UDP ports 500/4500) or disable IPsec VPN functionality until a fix can be deployed.

Fix this in Vxworks Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-43268 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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