Application Policy Infrastructure Controller
CVE-2021-1388
CRITICAL
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 10.0 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could escalate privileges to gain unauthorized elevated access by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco ACI Multi-Site Orchestrator (MSO) installed on the Application Services Engine could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication on. Rated critical severity (CVSS 10.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, 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
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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 an API endpoint of Cisco ACI Multi-Site Orchestrator (MSO) installed on the Application Services Engine could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper token validation on a specific API endpoint. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to the affected API. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to receive a token with administrator-level privileges that could be used to authenticate to the API on affected MSO and managed Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) devices. Affected products include: Cisco Aci Multi-Site Orchestrator, Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco ACI Multi-Site Orchestrator (MSO) installed on the Application Services Engine could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper token validation on a specific API endpoint. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to the affected API. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to receive a token with administrator-level privileges that could be used to authenticate to the API on affected MSO and managed Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) devices.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
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
Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco Application Services Engine could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain pr
Multiple vulnerabilities in the web UI and API endpoints of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) or
A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Cisco Cloud Applicat
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and C
A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Cisco Cloud Applicat
A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Cisco Cloud Applicat
A vulnerability in the build procedure for certain executable system files installed at boot time on Cisco Application P
The installation procedure on Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) devices 1.3(2f) mishandles binar
A vulnerability in the FUSE filesystem functionality for Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) softw
A vulnerability in Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) could allow an authenticated, remote attack
The boot manager in Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) 1.1(0.920a) allows local users to bypass i
A vulnerability in the software upgrade component of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Cisco
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB