# CVE-2021-21553: Privilege escalation in PowerScale OneFS

> A privilege escalation flaw in Dell PowerScale OneFS allows the CompAdmin user to break out of Compliance mode under specific conditions.

- **Severity:** High 7.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Aug 2021
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-974f-9h45-g4v4

## What is CVE-2021-21553?

CVE-2021-21553 is a high-severity vulnerability in Dell Powerscale Onefs, published on 2 Aug 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Dell PowerScale OneFS versions 8.1.0-9.1.0 contain an Incorrect User Management vulnerability.under some specific conditions, this can allow the CompAdmin user to elevate privileges and break out of Compliance mode. This is a critical vulnerability and Dell recommends upgrading at the earliest.

Weakness: CWE-286 (Incorrect User Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-21553?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Dell Powerscale Onefs.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-21553?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-21553 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-21553 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-21553 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Dell Powerscale Onefs

- [CVE-2024-53298](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53298/): Missing authorization in PowerScale OneFS (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-27690](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-27690/): Hardcoded credentials in PowerScale OneFS (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-31229](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31229/): Information disclosure in PowerScale OneFS (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2026-22278](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22278/): Auth bypass in PowerScale OneFS (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2024-29170](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-29170/): Hardcoded credentials in PowerScale OneFS (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-21553 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-21553 is a high-severity vulnerability in Dell Powerscale Onefs, published on 2 Aug 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-21553 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Dell Powerscale Onefs. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21553/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21553/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-21553
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-21553
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-21553

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21553/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.