CVE-2021-38900Network attack vector

Privileged information disclosure via missing authorization checks

Published Dec 21, 2021 · Updated Sep 17, 2024

Incorrect authorization in IBM Business Automation Workflow allows remote authenticated users to read highly sensitive information through its admin console. The Process Admin Console omits expected authorization checks when serving protected information in affected traditional and Cloud Pak deployments. Affected families include Business Automation Workflow 18.0, 19.0, 20.0, and 21.0 and Cloud Pak for Business Automation 21.0.2; high-privilege network access is required.

CVSS severity4.9
Medium
EPSS probability1.13%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Incorrect authorization in IBM Business Automation Workflow allows remote authenticated users to read highly sensitive information through its admin console. The Process Admin Console omits expected authorization checks when serving protected information in affected traditional and Cloud Pak deployments. Affected families include Business Automation Workflow 18.0, 19.0, 20.0, and 21.0 and Cloud Pak for Business Automation 21.0.2; high-privilege network access is required.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-38900
Published
Dec 21, 2021
Updated
Sep 17, 2024
Vendor
IBM
Product
Business Automation Workflow
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
network
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 21, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 17, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=18.0.0.0
  2. Affected versionversion=18.0.0.1
  3. Affected versionversion=18.0.0.2
  4. Affected versionversion=19.0.0.1
  5. Affected versionversion=19.0.0.2
  6. Affected versionversion=19.0.0.3
  7. Affected versionversion=20.0.0.1
  8. Affected versionversion=20.0.0.2
  9. Affected versionversion=21.0.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

IBM · Business Automation Workflowversion=18.0.0.0; version=18.0.0.1; version=18.0.0.2; version=19.0.0.1; version=19.0.0.2; version=19.0.0.3; version=20.0.0.1; version=20.0.0.2; version=21.0.2
IBM · Cloud Pak for Business Automationversion=21.0.2

Published CVSS scores

4.0NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N
4.9IBM CorporationCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
6.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

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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