Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-1218 is an open redirect issue in Cisco Smart Software Manager Satellite/On-Prem web management. An authenticated attacker could craft a request that sends a user to a malicious website. The main business risk is phishing or trust abuse, not server takeover.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate remediation item. Prioritize faster if the management interface is broadly reachable or used by many administrators. The risk is mainly phishing and credential-harvesting support, not direct system compromise.
Technical view
The issue is CWE-601 improper URL validation in the web management interface. Exploitation requires network access, low privileges, and user interaction. A successful exploit can redirect a request to an attacker-chosen URL, with low confidentiality and integrity impact and no availability impact listed.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to organizations running affected Cisco Smart Software Manager Satellite/On-Prem management interfaces, especially where authenticated users can reach the interface from broader networks.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not cite active exploitation, and KEV is false. This is better understood as a phishing-enablement flaw that depends on an authenticated attacker and user interaction, not a standalone compromise path.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to CVE metadata and Cisco’s advisory reference. The supplied bundle does not name specific affected versions, fixed versions, workarounds, or exploit-in-the-wild evidence. Avoid expanding scope beyond Cisco Smart Software Manager Satellite/On-Prem.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco advisory for affected and fixed release guidance.
- Upgrade or apply vendor-recommended remediation where applicable.
- Restrict management interface access to trusted admin networks or VPN.
- Use MFA and least privilege for management accounts.
- Monitor for suspicious external redirect destinations.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco Smart Software Manager Satellite/On-Prem deployments.
- Confirm whether deployed versions match Cisco advisory exposure.
- Verify management interfaces are not internet-exposed.
- Review access logs for unexpected redirect patterns.
- Use approved vendor or scanner checks only.
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-601: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. 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 lookupCVE-2021-1218 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 4.6 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
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:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N2.12.5Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
4.6MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20210120 Cisco Smart Software Manager Satellite Open Redirect VulnerabilityCVE 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.
URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect')
URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.