CVE-2021-41348

Adjacent authenticated privilege escalation

Published Oct 13, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Improper privilege management in Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 allows remote authenticated users to elevate privileges. Microsoft has not published the affected component or the operation that mishandles privileges. Exploitation requires low-privilege access from an adjacent network and can compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability at the elevated privilege level.

CVSS severity8.0
High
EPSS probability0.59%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper privilege management in Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 allows remote authenticated users to elevate privileges. Microsoft has not published the affected component or the operation that mishandles privileges. Exploitation requires low-privilege access from an adjacent network and can compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability at the elevated privilege level.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-41348
Published
Oct 13, 2021
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Microsoft
Product
Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 21
Classifications
CWE-269, T1068
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 13, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 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=15.01.0 <15.01.2308.015

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Microsoft · Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 21version=15.01.0 <15.01.2308.015
Microsoft · Microsoft Exchange Server 2019 Cumulative Update 11version=15.02.0 <15.02.0986.009
Microsoft · Microsoft Exchange Server 2019 Cumulative Update 10version=15.02.0 <15.02.0922.014
Microsoft · Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 22version=15.0.0 <15.01.2375.012

Published CVSS scores

5.2NIST NVDAV:A/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P
8.0Microsoft CorporationCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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