# CVE-2021-39048: Memory corruption in Spectrum Protect

> A local attacker can exploit a stack-based buffer overflow in the IBM Spectrum Protect Client to cause a denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.2 (`CVSS:3.0/UI:N/AV:L/C:N/I:N/S:U/PR:N/A:H/AC:L/RC:C/RL:O/E:U`)
- **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:** 13 Dec 2021
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4h4x-cgp7-h27m

## What is CVE-2021-39048?

CVE-2021-39048 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in IBM Spectrum Protect, published on 13 Dec 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM Spectrum Protect Client 7.1 and 8.1 is vulnerable to a stack based buffer overflow, caused by improper bounds checking. A local attacker could exploit this vulnerability and cause a denial of service. IBM X-Force ID: 214438.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-39048?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Ibm Spectrum Protect Backup-Archive Client, Ibm Spectrum Protect for Space Management.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-39048?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-39048 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-39048 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-39048 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in IBM Spectrum Protect

- [CVE-2023-28956](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-28956/): IBM Spectrum Protect Backup-Archive Client privilege escalation (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2021-20532](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-20532/): Privilege escalation in Spectrum Protect for Virtual Environments (high 7.4)
- [CVE-2018-1853](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1853/): Cross-site scripting in Spectrum Protect (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2018-1787](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1787/): Information disclosure in Spectrum Protect (medium 5.1)
- [CVE-2018-1882](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1882/): Information disclosure in Spectrum Protect (medium 4.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-39048 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-39048 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in IBM Spectrum Protect, published on 13 Dec 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-2021-39048 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM Spectrum Protect. 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-2021-39048/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39048/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-39048
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-39048
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-39048

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39048/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.