# CVE-2021-21590: Information disclosure in Unity

> A local high-privilege user can read plain-text passwords to gain unauthorized access with the compromised user's privileges.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Jul 2021
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vc5x-77hg-2qf9

## What is CVE-2021-21590?

CVE-2021-21590 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Dell Unity, published on 12 Jul 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Dell EMC Unity, Unity XT, and UnityVSA versions prior to 5.1.0.0.5.394 contain a plain-text password storage vulnerability. A local malicious user with high privileges may use the exposed password to gain access with the privileges of the compromised user.

Weakness: CWE-522 (Insufficiently Protected Credentials), CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-21590?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Dell Emc Unity Operating Environment, Dell Emc Unity Xt Operating Environment, Dell Emc Unityvsa Operating Environment.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-21590?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-21590 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-21590 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-21590 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Dell Unity

- [CVE-2021-36294](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36294/): Auth bypass in VNX Control Station (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-36288](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36288/): Path traversal in VNX2 (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2021-36289](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-36289/): Information disclosure in VNX Control Station (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2019-3741](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3741/): Information disclosure in Unity (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2018-11064](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11064/): Privilege escalation in Dell EMC Unity (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-21590 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-21590 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Dell Unity, published on 12 Jul 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-21590 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Dell Unity. 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-2021-21590/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21590/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-21590
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-21590
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-21590

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21590/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.