Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- Exploitation requires an existing local or physical foothold with privileges.
- EPSS is 0.50% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2021
CVE-2021-40454High confidence
Rich Text Edit Control Information Disclosure Vulnerability
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1809
5.5MediumCVSS 3.1
Scheduled
Patch availableMedium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityMedium→Operational priority:Low, lowered one band.downgradedsince 4 Aug 2024
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 Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809 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.
Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.
Patch available01
What, why and how
Rich Text Edit Control Information Disclosure Vulnerability
What
Rich Text Edit Control Information Disclosure Vulnerability
Why
The product stores sensitive information in cleartext within a resource that might be accessible to another control sphere.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may obtain information outside the intended access boundary.
What
Rich Text Edit Control Information Disclosure Vulnerability
Why
The product stores sensitive information in cleartext within a resource that might be accessible to another control sphere.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may obtain information outside the intended access boundary.
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 → Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information → obtain information outside the intended access boundary
- Attack surface
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low: a basic authenticated account is required
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-312 ↗
CWE-312: Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information. The product stores sensitive information in cleartext within a resource that might be accessible to another control sphere.
- 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:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:F/RL:O/RC:CCommon 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.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.INoneIntegrity impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.- 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
- Windows 10 Version 1809: 10.0.0 < 10.0.17763.2237
- Windows Server 2019: 10.0.0 < 10.0.17763.2237
- Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation): 10.0.0 < 10.0.17763.2237
- Windows 10 Version 1909: 10.0.0 < 10.0.18363.1854
- Windows 10 Version 21H1: 10.0.0 < 10.0.19043.1288
- Windows Server 2022: 10.0.0 < 10.0.20348.288
- Windows 10 Version 2004: 10.0.0 < 10.0.19041.1288
- Windows Server version 2004: 10.0.0 < 10.0.19041.1288
- Windows 10 Version 20H2: 10.0.0 < 10.0.19042.1288
- Windows Server version 20H2: 10.0.0 < 10.0.19042.1288
- Windows 11 version 21H2: 10.0.0 < 10.0.22000.258
- Windows 10 Version 1507: 10.0.0 < 10.0.10240.19086
- Windows 10 Version 1607: 10.0.0 < 10.0.14393.4704
- Windows Server 2016: 10.0.0 < 10.0.14393.4704
- Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation): 10.0.0 < 10.0.14393.4704
- Windows 8.1: 6.3.0 < 6.3.9600.20144
- Windows Server 2012: 6.2.0 < 6.2.9200.23490
- Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation): 6.2.0 < 6.2.9200.23490
- Windows Server 2012 R2: 6.3.0 < 6.3.9600.20144
- Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation): 6.3.0 < 6.3.9600.20144
- Microsoft Office 2019: 19.0.0 < https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases
- Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac: 16.0.0 < 16.54.21101001
- Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise: 16.0.1 < https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases
- Microsoft Office 2016: 16.0.0 < 16.0.5227.1000
- Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1: 15.0.0 < 15.0.5389.1000
- Microsoft Office LTSC 2021: 16.0.1 < https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases
- Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021: 16.0.1 < 16.54.21101001
- 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 13 Oct 2021 · Last source change 4 Aug 2024, 02:44 UTC · CWE-312 · Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information
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-2021-27631
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceNIST NVD
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.
CVE published
Fixed release or patch reference recorded
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.