Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This issue affects Cisco Small Business RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W routers. A logged-in administrator could abuse the web management interface to run operating-system commands as root. The business concern is full device compromise where these routers remain in service, especially if management access or admin credentials are weakly controlled.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority legacy router risk. The vulnerability has severe impact after administrator compromise, and the source states Cisco released no fixing software update. Prioritize identifying affected devices and reducing management-plane exposure.
Technical view
CVE-2021-1149 is a high-severity command injection flaw in the web-based management interface caused by improper input validation. Exploitation is remote over the management interface but requires valid administrator credentials. Successful exploitation can execute arbitrary code as root. Cisco’s advisory states it did not release software updates for these vulnerabilities.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to the named Cisco Small Business router models with reachable web management interfaces. Risk is higher where administrators can access management remotely, credentials are shared, or retired small-business routers remain deployed without compensating controls.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or other evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires authenticated administrator access and crafted HTTP requests to the device management interface. Do not assume exploitation is occurring without local telemetry or a cited source.
Researcher notes
Key constraints are important: the vulnerability is authenticated, remote, and management-interface based. Impact is root-level command execution, but the provided sources do not prove active exploitation, public exploit availability, or a patched release. Validation should focus on asset presence, management reachability, and admin access paths.
Mitigation direction
- Check Cisco’s advisory for current product guidance and lifecycle status.
- Inventory and prioritize any RV110W, RV130, RV130W, or RV215W routers.
- Restrict web management access to trusted administrative networks only.
- Review and tighten administrator credential ownership and rotation.
- Plan replacement or isolation where no vendor software update exists.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether any named Cisco router models remain deployed.
- Verify management interfaces are not exposed beyond trusted admin networks.
- Review administrator account inventory for shared, stale, or unnecessary access.
- Check device logs for unexpected administrator sessions or configuration changes.
- Document firmware, model, and compensating controls for each affected device.
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
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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-2021-1149 mapping review
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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.