Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A logged-in, non-administrator user on Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences could change any other user’s password, including an administrator’s. That could let the attacker take over privileged accounts and act as them inside the CMX system.
Executive priority
High priority where Cisco CMX is deployed. The issue can convert a low-privilege account into administrative control of the CMX system, but evidence of active exploitation is not provided.
Technical view
CVE-2021-1144 is a Cisco CMX authorization bypass in the password-change function. The CVSS 3.1 score is 8.8. The weakness is CWE-863, incorrect authorization. Exploitation requires network access and low privileges, but no user interaction.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations running Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences. The source bundle does not provide affected version ranges, so teams must compare deployed CMX releases against Cisco’s advisory.
Exploitation context
The bundle describes remote authenticated exploitation with low privileges. It does not cite CISA KEV inclusion or active exploitation. Successful exploitation could enable administrative impersonation through password takeover.
Researcher notes
The public bundle identifies the affected product but not specific affected versions or fixed releases. Analysis should stay tied to Cisco’s advisory for version validation and remediation. Avoid assuming exploit availability or exploitation in the wild.
Mitigation direction
- Identify all deployed Cisco CMX instances and owners.
- Review Cisco’s advisory for affected and fixed release guidance.
- Apply Cisco-supported updates or remediation from the advisory.
- Limit CMX access to trusted administrative users and networks.
- Review and remove unnecessary low-privilege CMX accounts.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether any Cisco CMX systems are in production.
- Compare installed CMX versions with Cisco advisory guidance.
- Review account audit logs for unexpected password changes.
- Verify password-change workflows enforce user-level authorization.
- Check whether any admin accounts were changed unexpectedly.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-863: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-1144 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H2.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20210113 Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Privilege Escalation VulnerabilityCVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_CISCO
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Incorrect Authorization
Incorrect Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.