CVE-2021-44679
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 · uneditedAn issue (3 of 6) was discovered in Veritas Enterprise Vault through 14.1.2. On start-up, the Enterprise Vault application starts several services that listen on random .NET Remoting TCP ports for possible commands from client applications. These TCP services can be exploited due to deserialization behavior that is inherent to the .NET Remoting service. A malicious attacker can exploit both TCP remoting services and local IPC services on the Enterprise Vault Server. This vulnerability is mitigated by properly configuring the servers and firewall as described in the vendor's security alert for this vulnerability (VTS21-003, ZDI-CAN-14074).
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 confidenceVeritas Enterprise Vault versions through 14.1.2 start .NET Remoting TCP services on random ports that are vulnerable to insecure deserialization attacks. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can send malicious serialized .NET objects to these TCP remoting services (and local IPC services) to achieve remote code execution on the Enterprise Vault server.
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<= 14.1.2CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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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Verify Enterprise Vault installationCheck for Enterprise Vault installation by looking for the product in installed programs (Windows Add/Remove Programs), or check for the Enterprise Vault installation directory (typically under C:\Program Files\Veritas\Enterprise Vault)Affected if Enterprise Vault is installed on the system
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Determine installed versionLocate the Enterprise Vault version information - this is typically available in the product itself, installation directory, or Windows registry under the Veritas installation keysAffected if The installed version is 14.1.2 or any version prior to 14.1.2
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Identify running .NET Remoting servicesUse the Windows command 'net start' or check Windows Services for Enterprise Vault-related services. .NET Remoting services may appear as part of the Enterprise Vault service stackAffected if Enterprise Vault services are running and include .NET Remoting TCP endpoints
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Check for exposed TCP listening portsRun 'netstat -an' or use PowerShell 'Get-NetTCPConnection' to identify TCP ports listening on the Enterprise Vault server. Since the remoting services use random ports, look for any unexpected or undocumented TCP listeners tied to Enterprise Vault processesAffected if There are undocumented or random TCP ports listening that are associated with Enterprise Vault and accessible to untrusted networks
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Assess network exposureReview firewall rules and network segmentation to determine if the Enterprise Vault server and its remoting ports are accessible from untrusted networks or the internetAffected if The Enterprise Vault server or its remoting services are accessible from untrusted/networked locations without proper firewall restrictions
A system is affected if it runs Enterprise Vault version 14.1.2 or earlier with .NET Remoting TCP services enabled and exposed to accessible networks.
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 · scopedApply vendor-recommended server and firewall configurations as specified in Veritas security alert VTS21-003, and upgrade to a patched version of Enterprise Vault if available.
Enterprise Vault 14.2 or later (14.2.0 is the first fixed release)
- 1. Obtain the Veritas Enterprise Vault 14.2 or later release from the Veritas support portal (downloads.veritas.com)
- 2. Review the Enterprise Vault 14.2 Release Notes for upgrade prerequisites and compatibility requirements
- 3. Back up the Enterprise Vault database and configuration settings
- 4. Run the Enterprise Vault upgrade installer on the primary server first
- 5. Upgrade each remaining server in the Enterprise Vault site following the documented order
- 6. After upgrade, verify all services start correctly and the version shows 14.2 or later
- 7. Apply firewall rules to restrict access to .NET Remoting ports as documented in VTS21-003 security alert
- 8. Verify the vulnerability is no longer present using the vendor's validation steps
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $4,544.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-44679 — 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-2021-44679 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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