CVE-2021-42023
A vulnerability has been identified in ModelSim Simulation (All versions), Questa Simulation (All...
A vulnerability has been identified in ModelSim Simulation (All versions), Questa Simulation (All versions). The RSA white-box implementation in affected applications insufficiently protects the built-in private keys that are required to decrypt electronic intellectual property (IP) data in accordance with the IEEE 1735 recommended practice. This could allow a sophisticated attacker to discover the keys, bypassing the protection intended by the IEEE 1735 recommended practice.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
6.5
A vulnerability has been identified in ModelSim Simulation (All versions), Questa Simulation (All versions). The RSA white-box implementation in affected applications insufficiently protects the built-in private keys that are required to decrypt electronic intellectual property (IP) data in accordance with the IEEE 1735 recommended practice. This could allow a sophisticated attacker to discover the keys, bypassing the protection intended by the IEEE 1735 recommended practice.
- Record
CVE-2021-42023- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 2.1 Low
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-522
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
A vulnerability has been identified in ModelSim Simulation (All versions), Questa Simulation (All versions). The RSA white-box implementation in affected applications insufficiently protects the built-in private keys that are required to decrypt electronic intellectual property (IP) data in accordance with the IEEE 1735 recommended practice. This could allow a sophisticated attacker to discover the keys, bypassing the protection intended by the IEEE 1735 recommended practice.
- Record
CVE-2021-42023- Weakness
- CWE-522
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-29011 No score
A vulnerability has been identified in ModelSim Simulation (All versions), Questa Simulation (All versions). The RSA white-box implementation in affected applications insufficiently protects the built-in private keys that are required to decrypt electronic intellectual property (IP) data in accordance with the IEEE 1735 recommended practice. This could allow a sophisticated attacker to discover the keys, bypassing the protection intended by the IEEE 1735 recommended practice.
- Record
EUVD-2021-29011- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-x8jw-8x39-62fp No score
A vulnerability has been identified in ModelSim Simulation (All versions), Questa Simulation (All...
A vulnerability has been identified in ModelSim Simulation (All versions), Questa Simulation (All versions). The RSA white-box implementation in affected applications insufficiently protects the built-in private keys that are required to decrypt electronic intellectual property (IP) data in accordance with the IEEE 1735 recommended practice. This could allow a sophisticated attacker to discover the keys, bypassing the protection intended by the IEEE 1735 recommended practice.
- Record
GHSA-x8jw-8x39-62fp- Weakness
- CWE-522
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| PoC in GitHub | Geeoon/ModelSim-Decryptor | 2026-10-10 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, PoC in GitHub |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-42023 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.5) in Siemens Modelsim, published December 14, 2021. Public exploit code exists. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.58%, the 48th percentile. No source names a fixed version.