Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw affects several Cisco Small Business RV routers. An attacker who already has administrator credentials could abuse the web management interface to run operating-system commands as root. The business risk is full device compromise, especially where router administration is exposed beyond a trusted management network.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority for environments still using affected RV routers. It is not described as unauthenticated or actively exploited in the provided evidence, but compromise after admin credential exposure can mean root-level control of network edge equipment.
Technical view
CVE-2021-1318 is improper input validation in the web-based management interface of Cisco RV016, RV042, RV042G, RV082, RV320, and RV325 routers. Crafted HTTP requests from an authenticated remote administrator can inject commands executed with root privileges. CVSS 3.1 is 7.2 with high privileges required.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in organizations still running the listed Cisco Small Business RV routers, particularly where management access is reachable from broad internal networks or the internet. The requirement for valid administrator credentials reduces opportunistic risk but increases concern after credential theft or shared admin access.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. Exploitation requires valid administrator credentials and network access to the web management interface. Successful abuse could give root-level control of the router operating system.
Researcher notes
The source bundle identifies command injection through crafted HTTP requests against the management interface, with CWE-20 and CVSS vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Evidence does not include exploit availability, patch version details, or KEV status beyond kev=false.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco advisory for fixed releases, replacement guidance, or vendor-supported mitigations.
- Inventory Cisco RV016, RV042, RV042G, RV082, RV320, and RV325 routers.
- Restrict management interface access to trusted administrative networks where possible.
- Remove unused administrator accounts and rotate credentials for active administrators.
- Monitor router administration logs for unexpected authenticated management activity.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether any listed Cisco RV router models remain in production.
- Compare deployed firmware and model details against the Cisco advisory.
- Verify management interfaces are not reachable from untrusted networks.
- Review administrator account lists for stale, shared, or unexpected users.
- Check recent management activity for suspicious authenticated changes or access.
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-20: 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-2021-1318 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
- 20210203 Cisco Small Business RV Series Routers Management Interface Command Injection 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.
Improper Input Validation
Improper Input Validation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.