Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Cisco CMX can let a signed-in user change their own password to one that violates configured strength rules. This does not expose data or give admin access by itself, but it weakens account protections and can undermine credential policy compliance.
Executive priority
Treat as a compliance and credential-control weakness, not an emergency breach indicator. Prioritize remediation where CMX is internet-reachable, broadly accessible internally, or subject to strict password policy requirements.
Technical view
The change password API performs incomplete server-side password policy validation. An authenticated remote user can send a crafted API request to set their own password below configured strong authentication requirements. CVSS 3.1 is 4.3: network reachable, low complexity, low privileges, no user interaction, low integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations running Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences with reachable password-change API access and local accounts subject to configured password-strength requirements. The source bundle does not identify specific affected versions or CPEs.
Exploitation context
The source bundle and KEV status do not support active exploitation claims. Exploitation requires an authenticated user and affects only that user's own password policy compliance, not direct confidentiality or availability.
Researcher notes
Mapped to CWE-255 with incomplete server-side validation in the change password API. Evidence does not include affected version ranges, patch names, proof-of-concept status, or exploit telemetry; avoid expanding scope beyond Cisco CMX.
Mitigation direction
- Review the Cisco advisory for affected releases and vendor-supported fixes.
- Upgrade or patch Cisco CMX according to Cisco guidance.
- Restrict CMX management and API access to trusted networks.
- Monitor password-change events for policy violations or unusual API activity.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco CMX deployments and exposed management/API interfaces.
- Confirm whether configured password policies are enforced through all password-change paths.
- Review authentication logs for recent password changes by non-admin users.
- Check Cisco advisory status against installed CMX versions.
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-255: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-1522 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
- 4.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N2.81.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20210804 Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Strong Authentication Requirements Enforcement BypassCVE 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.
Credentials Management Errors
Credentials Management Errors represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.