CVE-2021-21998

VMware Carbon Black App Control 8.0, 8.1, 8.5 prior to 8.5.8, and 8.6 prior to 8.6.2 has an authentication bypass. A malicious actor with network access to the VMware Carbon Black App Control management server might be able to obtain administrative access to the product without the need to authenticate.

Published: 2021-06-23 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-21998 is rated High Risk (77.5/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 10.62%, 95th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +10.13% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-21998

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.49% 10.62% +10.13%
2 2025-11-21 0.36% 0.49% +0.13%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.36% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-21998

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-21998

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-21998

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware carbon_black_app_control >= 8.5, < 8.5.8 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:carbon_black_app_control:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware carbon_black_app_control >= 8.6, < 8.6.2 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:carbon_black_app_control:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware carbon_black_app_control 8.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:carbon_black_app_control:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware carbon_black_app_control 8.1 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:carbon_black_app_control:8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-21998

cvelogic Threat Intelligence