What is CVE-2021-38988?

CVE-2021-38988 is a medium-severity vulnerability in IBM Aix. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2022-03-07.

How severe is CVE-2021-38988?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.

Vulnerability in IBM Aix

CVE-2021-38988

IBM AIX 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, and VIOS 3.1 could allow a non-privileged local user to exploit a vulnerability in the AIX kernel to cause a denial of service. IBM X-Force ID: 212950.

Published 2022-03-07 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (11.4th percentile), scored 2026-10-03.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 11th percentile — 11.4% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: 0.000

Affected products

IBM Aix — versions 7.2, 7.3.0.0, 7.2.4.0
IBM Vios — versions 3.1

References

www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6561281 (Patch, Mitigation, Vendor Advisory)
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/212950 (VDB Entry, vdb-entry, Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-38988?: CVE-2021-38988 is a medium-severity vulnerability in IBM Aix. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2022-03-07.
How severe is CVE-2021-38988?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.