CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-21538 — Dell EMC iDRAC9 versions 4.40.00.00 and later, but prior to 4.40.10.00, contain an improper authentication vulnerability

Critical CVSS 10

Dell EMC iDRAC9 versions 4.40.00.00 and later, but prior to 4.40.10.00, contain an improper authentication vulnerability. A remote unauthenticated attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability to gain access to the virtual console.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
10 (3.1)
Published
2021-07-29
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-287

Affected products

  • dell / idrac9_firmware

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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