IRONSMITHINTEL
HIGHCVSS8.8
|
Actively Exploited
|CISA KEV|CVE-2021-21551|Auth: low — authenticated user|Reboot: required|Manual only

Dell dbutil Driver Insufficient Access Control Vulnerability

Dell dbutil driver contains an insufficient access control vulnerability which may lead to escalation of privileges, denial-of-service (DoS), or information disclosure.

Published May 4, 2021 · Updated May 16, 2026
Why patchRisk explained in plain English
Worst-case scenarioIf unpatched

A local attacker, with a low-privilege account, can achieve full data confidentiality loss, arbitrary modification of data, complete denial of service or system unavailability. Federal agencies are required to remediate by 2022-04-21 under CISA BOD 22-01.

How the attack worksNo clicks needed

This is a Software Vulnerability (CWE-782) (CWE-782) vulnerability in Dell dbutil Driver. Dell dbutil_2_3.sys driver contains an insufficient access control vulnerability which may lead to escalation of privileges, denial of service, or information disclosure. Local authenticated user access is required. Exploitation requires local access, low attack complexity, a low-privilege authenticated account, and no user interaction required.

Am I affected?Quick check

Probably yes if any of these apply:

IT Security
Running dbutil: v ≤ 2.3
Real-world incidentsWhat we've seen

Active exploitation documented in the wild. Threat-research write-up: http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162604/Dell-DBUtil_2_3.sys-IOCTL-Memory-Read-Write.html

How to patch

Manual remediation steps

Apply the Vendor Patch

This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog — apply the vendor's security update as soon as possible.

CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

References

    1
    Vendor advisory: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000186019/dsa-2021-088-dell-client-platform-security-update-for-dell-driver-insufficient-access-control-vulnerability
    1
    NVD entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-21551
    1
    CISA KEV: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-21551
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