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Full vulnerability report · 2021
CVE-2021-44207High confidence

Acclaim Systems USAHERDS Use of Hard-Coded Credentials Vulnerability

Acclaim Systems · USAHERDS

8.1HighCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Protect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2025-01-13 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityHighOperational priority:Critical, raised one band.upgradedsince 23 Dec 2024

Evidence used

  • CISA confirms exploitation in the wild.
  • The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
  • EPSS is 17.58% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
  • Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Acclaim Systems USAHERDS and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: Within 3 daysRemediation target: Within 90 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2021-31057

CISA KEV mirrored by ENISA

Acclaim USAHERDS through 7.4.0.1 uses hard-coded credentials.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Recorded by ENISA since 23 Dec 2024. Evidence sources: cisa_kev.
ENISA score
8.1 · CVSS 3.1
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionProtect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2025-01-13 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

Acclaim Systems USAHERDS contains a hard-coded credentials vulnerability that could allow an attacker to achieve remote code execution on the system that runs the application. The MachineKey must be obtained via a separate vulnerability or other channel.

What

Acclaim Systems USAHERDS contains a hard-coded credentials vulnerability that could allow an attacker to achieve remote code execution on the system that runs the application. The MachineKey must be obtained via a separate vulnerability or other channel.

Why

A credential embedded in the product can be recovered or reused across installations instead of being unique to one deployment.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.

What

Acclaim Systems USAHERDS contains a hard-coded credentials vulnerability that could allow an attacker to achieve remote code execution on the system that runs the application. The MachineKey must be obtained via a separate vulnerability or other channel.

Why

A credential embedded in the product can be recovered or reused across installations instead of being unique to one deployment.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Confirmed in the wild

CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2024-12-23.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

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
a network path → Use of Hard-coded Credentials → execute code or commands in the affected security context
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
High: exploitation depends on specific conditions
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-798 ↗

CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials. The product contains hard-coded credentials, such as a password or cryptographic key.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.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.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's 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
After compromise, an attacker may use built-in shells, scripting engines, scheduled tasks and native network utilities for discovery, persistence or movement. This is a plausible LoTL path, not evidence that it has occurred for every attack.
NetworkUnauthenticatedRemote code executionCWE-798CISA KEV
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-31057Known-exploited evidence recorded

Acclaim USAHERDS through 7.4.0.1 uses hard-coded credentials.

Official EUVD record ↗
Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20211222Security Bulletin 22 Dec 2021

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 22 Dec 2021, published on 22 December 2021. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2021-017059Acclaim USAHERDS におけるハードコードされた認証情報の使用に関する脆弱性

Acclaim USAHERDS には、ハードコードされた認証情報の使用に関する脆弱性が存在します。

Official advisory ↗
KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-6365美 CISA 발표 주요 Exploit 정보공유(Update. 2024-12-23)

Acclaim Systems USAHERDS contains a hard-coded credentials vulnerability that could allow an attacker to achieve remote code execution on the system that runs the application. The MachineKey must be obtained via a separate vulnerability or other channel.

Official advisory ↗
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.
Fix not verified
Affected
n/a
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 21 Dec 2021 · Last source change 21 Oct 2025, 23:15 UTC · CWE-798 · Use of Hard-coded Credentials

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-31057
Product sourceCISA KEV
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCISA ADP
NVD statusNVD enriched

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    n/a: n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    CISA KEV ↗
  2. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    n/a: n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    CNA ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Added to CISA KEV
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-31057↗CISA KEV record↗CVE authority or vendor reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
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.
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