CVE-2021-38959

IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows 24.0, 25.0, 26.0, 27.0, 27.0.1, and 28.0 could allow a local user to cause a denial of service by writing arbitrary files to admin protected directories on the system. IBM X-Force ID: 212046.

Published: 2021-11-17 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-38959 is rated Low Risk (26.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.22%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2021-38959

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 0.04% 0.22% +0.18%
2 2025-03-30 0.05% 0.04% -0.02%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.05% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-38959

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]
6.2 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.5 3.6 [email protected]
2.1 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 3.9 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-38959

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-38959

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ibm spss_statistics 24.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:spss_statistics:24.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm spss_statistics 25.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:spss_statistics:25.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm spss_statistics 26.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:spss_statistics:26.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm spss_statistics 27.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:spss_statistics:27.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm spss_statistics 27.0.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:spss_statistics:27.0.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ibm spss_statistics 28.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:ibm:spss_statistics:28.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-38959

cvelogic Threat Intelligence