# CVE-2021-31850: Denial of Service in Database Security on Windows

> Remote authenticated administrators can cause denial of service or data destruction via improper directory creation in Windows system locations.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 Dec 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6wc6-p7fm-qqjp

## What is CVE-2021-31850?

CVE-2021-31850 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in McAfee,LLC McAfee Database Security (DBSec), published on 8 Dec 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A denial-of-service vulnerability in Database Security (DBS) prior to 4.8.4 allows a remote authenticated administrator to trigger a denial-of-service attack against the DBS server. The configuration of Archiving through the User interface incorrectly allowed the creation of directories and files in Windows system directories and other locations where sensitive data could be overwritten. The former could lead to a DoS, whilst the latter could lead to data destruction on the DBS server.

Weakness: CWE-552 (Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-31850?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mcafee Database Security.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-31850?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-31850 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-31850 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-31850 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in McAfee,LLC McAfee Database Security (DBSec)

- [CVE-2021-23894](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23894/): Unauthorized deserialization of untrusted data in McAfee DBSec (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2021-23895](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23895/): Authorized deserialization of untrusted data in McAfee DBSec (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2020-7339](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7339/): Database Security(DBS)-Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm (medium 6.3)
- [CVE-2021-31830](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31830/): Cross site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in McAfee DBSec (medium 5.9)
- [CVE-2019-3615](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3615/): Data Leakage Vulnerability in McAfee Database Security web interface (medium 5.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-31850 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-31850 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in McAfee,LLC McAfee Database Security (DBSec), published on 8 Dec 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-31850 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: McAfee,LLC McAfee Database Security (DBSec). 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-2021-31850/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31850/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-31850
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-31850
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-31850

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31850/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.