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Ios Xe Sd Wan CVE-2021-1371

MEDIUM
Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269)
2021-03-24 psirt@cisco.com
6.6
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Least privilege enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 6.6 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: physical attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges to gain unauthorized elevated access.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

A vulnerability in the role-based access control of Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with read-only privileges to obtain administrative privileges by using. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.6), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply principle of least privilege, validate privilege transitions, implement proper role separation.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269), which allows attackers to escalate privileges to gain unauthorized elevated access. A vulnerability in the role-based access control of Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with read-only privileges to obtain administrative privileges by using the console port when the device is in the default SD-WAN configuration. This vulnerability occurs because the default configuration is applied for console authentication and authorization. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the console port and authenticating as a read-only user. A successful exploit could allow a user with read-only permissions to access administrative privileges. Affected products include: Cisco Ios Xe Sd-Wan.

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 6.6 MEDIUM
AV:P/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Physical
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

A vulnerability in the role-based access control of Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with read-only privileges to obtain administrative privileges by using the console port when the device is in the default SD-WAN configuration. This vulnerability occurs because the default configuration is applied for console authentication and authorization. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the console port and authenticating as a read-only user. A successful exploit could allow a user with read-only permissions to access administrative privileges.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 83% exploitable
Data Quality
2 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.3%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

33
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +33
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe_sd-wan:17.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
CVE-2025-20352 HIGH
7.7 Sep 24

A vulnerability in the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) subsystem of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Softwa

CVE-2021-1383 MEDIUM POC
6.7 Mar 24

Multiple vulnerabilities in the CLI of Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to acce

CVE-2021-34727 CRITICAL
9.8 Sep 23

A vulnerability in the vDaemon process in Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker t

CVE-2021-1301 CRITICAL
9.8 Jan 20

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco SD-WAN products could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute attacks aga

CVE-2021-1300 CRITICAL
9.8 Jan 20

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco SD-WAN products could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute attacks aga

CVE-2020-3375 CRITICAL
9.8 Jul 31

A vulnerability in Cisco SD-WAN Solution Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a buffer over

CVE-2021-1619 CRITICAL
9.1 Sep 23

A vulnerability in the authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) function of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow

CVE-2024-20455 HIGH
8.6 Sep 25

A vulnerability in the process that classifies traffic that is going to the Unified Threat Defense (UTD) component of Ci

CVE-2021-1279 HIGH
8.6 Jan 20

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco SD-WAN products could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute denial of s

CVE-2021-1274 HIGH
8.6 Jan 20

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco SD-WAN products could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute denial of s

CVE-2021-1273 HIGH
8.6 Jan 20

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco SD-WAN products could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute denial of s

CVE-2023-20035 HIGH
7.8 Mar 23

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbit

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