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CVE Record

CVE-2021-1189: Cisco Small Business RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W Routers Management Interface Remote Command Execution and Denial of Service Vulnerabilities

Multiple vulnerabilities in the web-based management interface of Cisco Small Business RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W Routers could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause an affected device to restart unexpectedly. The vulnerabilities are due to improper validation of user-supplied input in the web-based management interface. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending crafted HTTP requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code as the root user on the underlying operating system or cause the device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker would need to have valid administrator credentials on the affected device. Cisco has not released software updates that address these vulnerabilities.

HighCVSS 7.2Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2021-1189 affects legacy Cisco Small Business RV routers. A logged-in administrator could abuse the web management interface to run code as root or force a reboot. Cisco did not release software updates, so affected devices create business risk when management access is reachable or administrator credentials are compromised.

Executive priority

Treat this as a high-priority legacy router risk. The required admin credentials reduce likelihood, but root-level impact and lack of Cisco updates make replacement or strict isolation important.

Technical view

The issue is improper validation of user-supplied input in the web-based management interface of RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W routers. An authenticated remote attacker with valid administrator credentials could send crafted HTTP requests causing arbitrary code execution as root or denial of service.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to organizations still running the named Cisco Small Business RV models, especially where the management interface is network-accessible beyond trusted administration paths.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited active exploitation. Exploitation requires valid administrator credentials and network reachability to the web-based management interface.

Researcher notes

Evidence supports authenticated remote command execution and denial of service through management interface input validation flaws. The bundle identifies CWE-121 and CVSS 3.1 score 7.2. No patch is named, and exploit status is not established.

Mitigation direction

  • Identify and prioritize replacement of affected RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W devices.
  • Check Cisco’s advisory for current vendor guidance and lifecycle context.
  • Restrict management interface access to trusted administrative networks only.
  • Review and rotate administrator credentials for affected routers.
  • Monitor affected devices for unexpected reloads or suspicious administrative activity.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory network edge devices for the affected Cisco Small Business RV models.
  • Confirm whether each web-based management interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Verify administrator accounts are known, necessary, and strongly protected.
  • Review device logs for unexpected restarts or unusual management activity.
  • Document compensating controls or replacement plans for each affected device.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
3

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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 · low confidence lookup

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.

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description · low confidence lookup

Execution 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 lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2021-1189 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
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

Official CVE source material

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.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
2Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We 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.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
7.2CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.25.9Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

7.2High
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2021-1189Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone
Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
CiscoCisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmwaren/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-121 · source CWE mapping

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.