How severe is CVE-2021-38948?

CVE-2021-38948 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.1, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2021-38948 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (78th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2021-38948?

CVE-2021-38948 affects Ibm Infosphere Information Server. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2021-38948?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2021-38948 published?

CVE-2021-38948 was published on 2021-11-02 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2021-38948

CVE-2021-38948 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Ibm Infosphere Information Server with a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.1. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-91.

Key facts

Severity: Critical (CVSS 3.x base score 9.1)
CVSS v2: 6.4
EPSS exploit prediction: 2% (78th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-91
Affected product: Ibm Infosphere Information Server
Published: 2021-11-02
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

IBM InfoSphere Information Server 11.7 is vulnerable to an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) attack when processing XML data. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to expose sensitive information or consume memory resources. IBM X-Force ID: 211402.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-38948?: IBM InfoSphere Information Server 11.7 is vulnerable to an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) attack when processing XML data. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to expose sensitive information or consume memory resources. IBM X-Force ID: 211402.
How severe is CVE-2021-38948?: CVE-2021-38948 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.1, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2021-38948 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (78th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2021-38948?: CVE-2021-38948 affects Ibm Infosphere Information Server. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2021-38948?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2021-38948 published?: CVE-2021-38948 was published on 2021-11-02 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:a:ibm:infosphere_information_server:11.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Ibm Infosphere Information Server

CVE-2009-4240 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Multiple buffer overflows in unspecified setuid executables in the DataStage subsystem in IBM InfoSphere Information…
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CVE-2020-27583 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): IBM InfoSphere Information Server 8.5.0.0 is affected by deserialization of untrusted data which could allow remote…
CVE-2012-0204 — Critical (CVSS 9.3): Untrusted search path vulnerability in InfoSphere Import Export Manager 8.1 through 9.1 in InfoSphere Information…

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Other CWE-91 (XML Injection) vulnerabilities

CVE-2021-4140 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): It was possible to construct specific XSLT markup that would be able to bypass an iframe sandbox. This vulnerability…
CVE-2023-43187 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): A remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in the xmlrpc.php endpoint of NodeBB Inc NodeBB forum software prior to…
CVE-2019-19450 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): paraparser in ReportLab before 3.5.31 allows remote code execution because start_unichar in paraparser.py evaluates…
CVE-2021-37154 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In ForgeRock Access Management (AM) before 7.0.2, the SAML2 implementation allows XML injection, potentially enabling a…
CVE-2020-29128 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): petl before 1.68, in some configurations, allows resolution of entities in an XML document.
CVE-2020-25216 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): yWorks yEd Desktop before 3.20.1 allows code execution via an XSL Transformation when using an XML file in conjunction…

Browse all CWE-91 (XML Injection) vulnerabilities →