What is CVE-2021-21551?

CVE-2021-21551 is a high-severity vulnerability in Dell Alienware 14, classified under CWE-782. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2021-05-04.

How severe is CVE-2021-21551?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2021-21551 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2021-21551 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-31), indicating it is being actively exploited. 83 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

Vulnerability in Dell Alienware 14

CVE-2021-21551

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.

Published 2021-05-04 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.801 (99.6th percentile), scored 2026-10-19.

High probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — patch promptly. 100th percentile — 99.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.792 · newest: 0.801 · change: +0.008

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-782

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2022-03-31. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2022-04-21.

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000186019/dsa-2021-088-dell-client-platform-se… (Mitigation, Vendor Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/162604/Dell-DBUtil_2_3.sys-IOCTL-Memory-Read-Writ… (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/162739/DELL-dbutil_2_3.sys-2.3-Arbitrary-Write-Pr… (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 (US Government Resource)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-21551?: CVE-2021-21551 is a high-severity vulnerability in Dell Alienware 14, classified under CWE-782. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2021-05-04.
How severe is CVE-2021-21551?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2021-21551 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2021-21551 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-31), indicating it is being actively exploited. 83 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.