Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Certain Cisco Small Business RV routers have management-interface flaws that could let a logged-in administrator-level attacker take full control of the device or force it to restart. Cisco states it did not release software updates for these vulnerabilities, so affected devices should be treated as high-risk legacy infrastructure.
Executive priority
Prioritize finding and retiring exposed affected routers. The business risk is device compromise or outage, and Cisco’s advisory states no software updates were released, making compensating controls and replacement planning important.
Technical view
CVE-2021-1162 affects the web-based management interface of Cisco RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W routers. Improper validation of user input in crafted HTTP requests can allow arbitrary code execution as root or denial of service. Network access and valid administrator credentials are required.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations still running the listed Cisco Small Business RV models, especially where the management interface is reachable from untrusted networks or shared administrator credentials exist. The source bundle does not provide specific affected firmware version ranges.
Exploitation context
The CVSS score is 7.2 because exploitation is network-reachable and high impact, but requires administrator privileges. The provided sources and KEV status do not show active exploitation. No exploit steps should be inferred from the advisory.
Researcher notes
Validation should focus on model presence, management-plane reachability, and admin credential exposure. The record lists CWE-121 and CVSS PR:H. Evidence is incomplete for firmware version granularity, exploit availability, and any vendor patch path beyond Cisco stating no updates.
Mitigation direction
- Check Cisco advisory guidance for current handling and lifecycle status.
- Identify and replace or retire affected models where practical.
- Restrict management interface access to trusted administrative networks only.
- Remove unnecessary remote management exposure where supported.
- Rotate and tightly control router administrator credentials.
- Monitor affected routers for unexpected reloads or configuration changes.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W devices.
- Confirm whether each device exposes the web management interface.
- Review administrative account ownership and credential hygiene.
- Check logs or monitoring for unexplained router reloads.
- Document any affected device without a vendor software update path.
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-121: 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-2021-1162 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 Remote Command Execution and Denial of Service 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.
Stack-based Buffer Overflow
Stack-based Buffer Overflow represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.