Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-1191 affects Cisco Small Business RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W routers. An attacker with valid administrator credentials could abuse the web management interface to run code as root or force the router to restart. Cisco states it has not released software updates for these vulnerabilities.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority edge-device risk if any affected router remains in service. The required credentials reduce likelihood, but root-level impact and no listed software fix make exposure reduction and replacement planning important.
Technical view
The issue is in the web-based management interface and stems from improper validation of user-supplied input, mapped to CWE-121. Crafted HTTP requests from an authenticated remote administrator can trigger arbitrary code execution with root privileges or a denial-of-service reload. CVSS 3.1 is 7.2 with high privileges required.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to affected Cisco RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W routers where the management interface is reachable and administrator credentials are available to an attacker.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not report active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV. Exploitation requires valid administrator credentials, but successful compromise can provide root-level control or disrupt routing availability.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports authenticated remote RCE and DoS through crafted HTTP requests against the management interface. Sources do not provide a vendor patch or confirmed exploitation. Avoid assuming unauthenticated exposure; validation should focus on affected models, management reachability, credential control, and compensating access restrictions.
Mitigation direction
- Restrict management interface access to trusted admin networks or VPN only.
- Audit administrator accounts and remove unused or shared credentials.
- Rotate administrator passwords and enforce strong credential handling.
- Monitor for unexpected router reloads and suspicious admin activity.
- Check Cisco guidance and plan replacement because no software update is listed.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W routers in scope.
- Confirm whether management interfaces are reachable from untrusted networks.
- Review administrator account lists for stale, shared, or unknown users.
- Check logs for unexpected administrative access or device reloads.
- Verify lifecycle status and replacement plans against Cisco guidance.
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-2021-1191 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.
