CVE-2021-40996

A remote authentication bypass vulnerability was discovered in Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager version(s): ClearPass Policy Manager 6.10.x prior to 6.10.2 - - ClearPass Policy Manager 6.9.x prior to 6.9.7-HF1 - - ClearPass Policy Manager 6.8.x prior to 6.8.9-HF1. Aruba has released patches for ClearPass Policy Manager that address this security vulnerability.

Published: 2021-10-15 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-40996 is rated High Risk (66.2/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.70%). 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-2021-40996

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 0.71% 1.70% +1.00%
2 2026-03-04 0.55% 0.71% +0.16%
3 2026-03-01 — 0.55% —

Full EPSS history (35 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-40996

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]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/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:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-40996

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-40996

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
arubanetworks clearpass_policy_manager >= 6.8.0, < 6.8.9 cpe:2.3:a:arubanetworks:clearpass_policy_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
arubanetworks clearpass_policy_manager >= 6.9.0, < 6.9.7 cpe:2.3:a:arubanetworks:clearpass_policy_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
arubanetworks clearpass_policy_manager >= 6.10.0, < 6.10.2 cpe:2.3:a:arubanetworks:clearpass_policy_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
arubanetworks clearpass_policy_manager 6.8.9 cpe:2.3:a:arubanetworks:clearpass_policy_manager:6.8.9:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
arubanetworks clearpass_policy_manager 6.9.7 cpe:2.3:a:arubanetworks:clearpass_policy_manager:6.9.7:-:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-40996

cvelogic Threat Intelligence