# CVE-2021-38959: Path traversal in SPSS Statistics

> Local attackers can write arbitrary files to protected directories, causing denial of service in IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.2 (`CVSS:3.0/S:U/PR:N/AV:L/I:N/A:H/C:N/UI:N/AC:L/E:U/RC:C/RL:O`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Nov 2021
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rcm8-2mrf-x3cc

## What is CVE-2021-38959?

CVE-2021-38959 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in IBM SPSS Statistics, published on 17 Nov 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows 24.0, 25.0, 26.0, 27.0, 27.0.1, and 28.0 could allow a local user to cause a denial of service by writing arbitrary files to admin protected directories on the system. IBM X-Force ID: 212046.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-38959?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Spss Statistics.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-38959?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-38959 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-38959 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-38959 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in IBM SPSS Statistics

- [CVE-2015-7489](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-7489/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2015-0140](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-0140/): Code injection in n/a (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2015-8530](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8530/): Memory corruption in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2022-43855](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-43855/): IBM SPSS Statistics denial of service (medium 6.2)
- [CVE-2024-31896](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-31896/): IBM SPSS Statistics information disclosure (medium 5.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-38959 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-38959 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in IBM SPSS Statistics, published on 17 Nov 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-2021-38959 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM SPSS Statistics. 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-2021-38959/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38959/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-38959
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-38959
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-38959

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38959/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.