CVE-2021-38900

IBM Business Process Manager 8.5 and 8.6 and IBM Business Automation Workflow 18.0, 19.0, 20.0 and 21.0 could allow a privileged user to obtain highly sensitive information due to improper access controls. IBM X-Force ID: 209607.

Published: 2021-12-21 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-38900 is rated Moderate Risk (48.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.13%). Review affected assets and schedule 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-2021-38900

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 0.25% 1.13% +0.88%
2 2025-03-30 0.46% 0.25% -0.21%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.46% —

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-38900

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 3.6 [email protected]
4.9 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.2 3.6 [email protected]
4.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N 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:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-38900

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-38900

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ibm business_automation_workflow 18.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:business_automation_workflow:18.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm business_automation_workflow 18.0.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:business_automation_workflow:18.0.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm business_automation_workflow 18.0.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:business_automation_workflow:18.0.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm business_automation_workflow 19.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:business_automation_workflow:19.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm business_automation_workflow 19.0.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:business_automation_workflow:19.0.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm business_automation_workflow 20.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:business_automation_workflow:20.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm business_automation_workflow 21.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:business_automation_workflow:21.0.0.0:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
ibm business_process_manager 8.5.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:business_process_manager:8.5.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm business_process_manager 8.6.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:business_process_manager:8.6.0.0:-:*:*:-:*:*:*
ibm workflow_process_service 21.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:workflow_process_service:21.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-38900

cvelogic Threat Intelligence