Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw affects Cisco Small Business RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W routers. An attacker with valid administrator credentials could abuse the web management interface to run operating system commands as root. Cisco has not released software updates for these vulnerabilities in the provided sources.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority for environments still using these routers. The attacker needs admin credentials, but a successful exploit can give full root control of the device, and no Cisco software update is cited in the provided sources.
Technical view
CVE-2021-1148 is an authenticated remote command injection issue in the routers' web-based management interface. Improper validation of user input allows crafted HTTP requests to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges. CVSS 3.1 is 7.2, with network access, low attack complexity, high privileges required, and high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where affected Cisco Small Business RV routers remain deployed and administrator access to the management interface is available. Risk increases if administrator credentials are weak, reused, compromised, or if management access is reachable from untrusted networks.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation requires valid administrator credentials, but successful abuse gives root-level control of the router, making compromised admin accounts a serious concern.
Researcher notes
Focus validation on model identification, management interface reachability, credential exposure, and whether Cisco has issued any later guidance. Do not assume unauthenticated exploitation or active exploitation from the provided evidence.
Mitigation direction
- Check Cisco's advisory for current vendor guidance and product status.
- Inventory RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W routers in use.
- Restrict web management access to trusted administrative networks only.
- Review and strengthen administrator credential controls for affected devices.
- Plan replacement or decommissioning where no supported update exists.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether affected router models are present in the environment.
- Verify firmware and device identity against Cisco's advisory.
- Review management interface exposure from internal and external networks.
- Audit administrator accounts for weak, shared, or stale credentials.
- Check monitoring for unusual administrative activity on affected routers.
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
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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-2021-1148 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.