Assessment
Why it matters
CISA lists this vulnerability as known to be exploited; exploitation is confirmed; EPSS is 64.9%; technical severity is CVSS 9.8.
An issue was discovered in Veritas Backup Exec before 21.2. It supports multiple authentication schemes: SHA authentication is one of these. This authentication scheme is no longer used in current versions of the product, but hadn't yet been disabled. An attacker could remotely exploit this scheme to gain unauthorized access to an Agent and execute privileged commands.
Who should care
- Teams operating Backup Exec, Backup Exec Agent
- Vulnerability and exposure management teams
- Security operations teams monitoring exploitation activity
Response plan
What I would do
- Confirm whether Backup Exec, Backup Exec Agent is present in the environment.
- Identify affected versions and establish whether vulnerable services are exposed or reachable.
- Apply updates per vendor instructions.
- Review relevant security telemetry for evidence of attempted or successful exploitation.
- Document the remediation decision and track it to verified completion.
Vendor remediation
Patch and remediation links
Use the vendor source below to confirm the correct fixed version, package or mitigation for your affected product.
Technical details
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CWE
- CWE-287
- Affected versions
- Veritas Backup Exec (End Excluding: 21.2); Veritas Backup Exec Agent
- Published
- 1 March 2021
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
Signal timeline
- CVE published
- Added to CISA KEV
- Latest EPSS score: 64.9%
- Signal calculated at 84