Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- EPSS is 0.67% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2021
CVE-2021-35535High confidence
Insufficient Security Control Vulnerability
Hitachi Energy · Relion 670 Series
8.1HighCVSS 3.1
Within 7 days
Patch availableHigh technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityHigh→Operational priority:High, unchanged from published severity.unchanged
Compensating controls
- Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
- Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Hitachi Energy Relion 670 Series and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
Patch available01
What, why and how
Insecure Boot Image vulnerability in Hitachi Energy Relion Relion 670/650/SAM600-IO series allows an attacker who manages to get access to the front network port and to cause a reboot sequences of the device may exploit the vulnerability, where there is a tiny time gap during the booting process where an older version of VxWorks is loaded prior to application firmware booting, could exploit the vulnerability in the older version of VxWorks and cause a denial-of-service on the product. This issue affects: Hitachi Energy Relion 670 Series 2.2.2 all revisions; 2.2.3 versions prior to 2.2.3.3. Hitachi Energy Relion 670/650 Series 2.2.0 all revisions; 2.2.4 all revisions. Hitachi Energy Relion 670/650/SAM600-IO 2.2.1 all revisions.
What
Insecure Boot Image vulnerability in Hitachi Energy Relion Relion 670/650/SAM600-IO series allows an attacker who manages to get access to the front network port and to cause a reboot sequences of the device may exploit the vulnerability, where there is a tiny time gap during the booting process where an older version of VxWorks is loaded prior to application firmware booting, could exploit the vulnerability in the older version of VxWorks and cause a denial-of-service on the product. This issue affects: Hitachi Energy Relion 670 Series 2.2.2 all revisions; 2.2.3 versions prior to 2.2.3.3. Hitachi Energy Relion 670/650 Series 2.2.0 all revisions; 2.2.4 all revisions. Hitachi Energy Relion 670/650/SAM600-IO 2.2.1 all revisions.
Why
The product initializes or sets a resource with a default that is intended to be changed by the product's installer, administrator, or maintainer, but the default is not secure.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
What
Insecure Boot Image vulnerability in Hitachi Energy Relion Relion 670/650/SAM600-IO series allows an attacker who manages to get access to the front network port and to cause a reboot sequences of the device may exploit the vulnerability, where there is a tiny time gap during the booting process where an older version of VxWorks is loaded prior to application firmware booting, could exploit the vulnerability in the older version of VxWorks and cause a denial-of-service on the product. This issue affects: Hitachi Energy Relion 670 Series 2.2.2 all revisions; 2.2.3 versions prior to 2.2.3.3. Hitachi Energy Relion 670/650 Series 2.2.0 all revisions; 2.2.4 all revisions. Hitachi Energy Relion 670/650/SAM600-IO 2.2.1 all revisions.
Why
The product initializes or sets a resource with a default that is intended to be changed by the product's installer, administrator, or maintainer, but the default is not secure.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation No confirmed evidence
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- local access → Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
- Attack surface
- Local
- Privileges required
- None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High: exploitation depends on specific conditions
- Security boundary
- Changed: exploitation can affect a different security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-1188 ↗
CWE-1188: Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default. The product initializes or sets a resource with a default that is intended to be changed by the product's installer, administrator, or maintainer, but the default is not secure.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACHighAttack complexity: Successful exploitation depends on specific conditions outside the attacker's direct control.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SChangedScope: The attack can affect a component governed by a different security authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Patch available
- Affected
- Action
- Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 18 Nov 2021 · Last source change 16 Sept 2024, 17:42 UTC · CWE-1188 · Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-22171
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.