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.
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-2021-1189 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.
