CVE-2021-29861

Local sensitive-information disclosure through undisclosed EFS flaw

Published Nov 17, 2021 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

Information disclosure in EFS in IBM AIX 7.1, AIX 7.2, and VIOS 3.1 allows local users to expose sensitive information. IBM identifies the affected locus as the bos.rte.security fileset but has not published the faulty operation EFS performs or the sensitive data exposed. Exploitation requires local access but no privileges or user interaction, and the documented impact is limited to confidentiality.

CVSS severity6.2
Medium
EPSS probability0.27%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Information disclosure in EFS in IBM AIX 7.1, AIX 7.2, and VIOS 3.1 allows local users to expose sensitive information. IBM identifies the affected locus as the bos.rte.security fileset but has not published the faulty operation EFS performs or the sensitive data exposed. Exploitation requires local access but no privileges or user interaction, and the documented impact is limited to confidentiality.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-29861
Published
Nov 17, 2021
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
IBM
Product
AIX
Classifications
T1005
Attack vector
local
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 17, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=7.1
  2. Affected versionversion=7.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

IBM · AIXversion=7.1; version=7.2
IBM · PowerVM Virtual I/O Serverversion=3.1

Published CVSS scores

6.2NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
6.2IBM CorporationCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1005Data from Local System

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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