CVE-2021-38487 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2021-38487
Vulnerability Scoring

8.2
/10
Severe Risk

Cybersecurity professionals consider CVE-2021-38487 an immediate threat requiring urgent mitigation.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Unchanged
    Exploit remains within the originally vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2021-38487 Details

Status: Modified

Last updated: 🕛 23 Jun 2025, 12:15 UTC
Originally published on: 🕔 05 May 2022, 17:15 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 1144 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

3f572a00-62e2-4423-959a-7ea25eff1638

CVSS3 Type

Secondary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H

CVE-2021-38487 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2021-38487: RTI Connext Professional versions 4.1 to 6.1.0, and Connext Micro versions 2.4 and later are vulnerable when an attacker sends a specially crafted packet to flood target devices with unwanted traffic. This may result in a denial-of-service condition and information exposure.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2021-38487

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2021-38487 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2021-38487

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2021-38487 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2021-38487, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2021-38487, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: Low
    CVE-2021-38487 could lead to minor leaks of non-critical information without major privacy breaches.
  • Integrity: None
    CVE-2021-38487 poses no threat to data integrity.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2021-38487 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 0.213% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 59.81% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 40.19% of others.

CVE-2021-38487 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-923

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Infrastructure Manipulation CAPEC-161 An attacker exploits characteristics of the infrastructure of a network entity in order to perpetrate attacks or information gathering on network objects or effect a change in the ordinary information flow between network objects. Most often, this involves manipulation of the routing of network messages so, instead of arriving at their proper destination, they are directed towards an entity of the attackers' choosing, usually a server controlled by the attacker. The victim is often unaware that their messages are not being processed correctly. For example, a targeted client may believe they are connecting to their own bank but, in fact, be connecting to a Pharming site controlled by the attacker which then collects the user's login information in order to hijack the actual bank account.
  • Contradictory Destinations in Traffic Routing Schemes CAPEC-481 Adversaries can provide contradictory destinations when sending messages. Traffic is routed in networks using the domain names in various headers available at different levels of the OSI model. In a Content Delivery Network (CDN) multiple domains might be available, and if there are contradictory domain names provided it is possible to route traffic to an inappropriate destination. The technique, called Domain Fronting, involves using different domain names in the SNI field of the TLS header and the Host field of the HTTP header. An alternative technique, called Domainless Fronting, is similar, but the SNI field is left blank.
  • Android Activity Hijack CAPEC-501 An adversary intercepts an implicit intent sent to launch a Android-based trusted activity and instead launches a counterfeit activity in its place. The malicious activity is then used to mimic the trusted activity's user interface and prompt the target to enter sensitive data as if they were interacting with the trusted activity.
  • DHCP Spoofing CAPEC-697 An adversary masquerades as a legitimate Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server by spoofing DHCP traffic, with the goal of redirecting network traffic or denying service to DHCP.

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:4.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:4.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:4.5d.rev41:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:4.5d.rev41:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.3.1.40:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.3.1.40:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.3.1.41:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.3.1.41:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.3.1.44:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.3.1.44:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.3.1.45:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:5.3.1.45:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:6.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:6.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:6.0.1.25:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:6.0.1.25:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:6.0.1.35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:6.0.1.35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:6.0.1.40:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_professional:6.0.1.40:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_secure:4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:rti:connext_secure:4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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