Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw affects Cisco Small Business RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W routers. An attacker who already has valid administrator credentials could abuse the web management interface to run operating-system commands as root. Cisco states it has not released software updates for these vulnerabilities.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority legacy network-edge risk if these routers remain deployed. The issue needs admin credentials, but compromise can become root control of the router, and Cisco states no software updates address it.
Technical view
CVE-2021-1146 is an authenticated remote command injection issue in the affected routers' web-based management interface. Improper validation of user-supplied input allows crafted HTTP requests to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges. CVSS v3.1 is 7.2, with network attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, and high CIA impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations still operating the listed Cisco Small Business RV models, especially where administrative web management is reachable over untrusted networks or shared admin credentials are weakly controlled.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires valid administrator credentials, but successful exploitation grants root-level command execution on the router.
Researcher notes
Scope should stay with the four Cisco Small Business router families named in the advisory. Evidence supports authenticated remote command injection through management HTTP requests, root execution impact, CWE-20, and no Cisco software update. No active exploitation evidence is provided.
Mitigation direction
- Check Cisco advisory for any current vendor guidance or product status changes.
- Identify and prioritize replacement or compensating controls for affected routers.
- Restrict management interface access to trusted administrative networks only.
- Review and tighten administrator credential handling for affected devices.
- Monitor administrative access for unexpected or unauthorized activity.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W devices.
- Confirm whether web-based management is reachable from untrusted networks.
- Verify administrator accounts and credential ownership for affected routers.
- Compare deployed firmware and model status against the Cisco advisory.
- Review device logs for unusual authenticated management activity.
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-20: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. 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 lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-1146 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
- 7.2 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.25.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.2HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20210113 Cisco Small Business RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W Routers Management Interface Command Injection VulnerabilitiesCVE 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.
Improper Input Validation
Improper Input Validation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
