Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-1578 lets an authenticated remote attacker with non-privileged Cisco ACI MSO credentials elevate to Administrator on affected Cisco APIC or Cloud APIC devices. That can compromise fabric management control and expose sensitive network operations. It is high severity because privilege escalation can lead to full device control.
Executive priority
Prioritize for Cisco ACI environments because successful exploitation can turn a low-privileged MSO account into Administrator access on APIC or Cloud APIC. Urgency is high where management interfaces are broadly reachable or MSO credentials are widely distributed.
Technical view
The issue is an improper policy default setting in an APIC or Cloud APIC API endpoint. A low-privileged MSO credential can be used to send a specific API request to a managed device, potentially obtaining Administrator credentials. CVSS 3.1 is 8.8: network attack, low complexity, low privileges, no user interaction, high CIA impact.
Likely exposure
Likely exposure is Cisco ACI environments using Cisco APIC or Cloud APIC with Cisco ACI Multi-Site Orchestrator integration. The source bundle does not include affected release ranges, so teams must verify exposure against Cisco’s advisory and their deployed versions.
Exploitation context
The bundle says exploitation requires authentication with a non-privileged MSO credential and remote access to the managed APIC or Cloud APIC API. The CVE is not listed as KEV in the provided data, and no cited source in the bundle states active exploitation.
Researcher notes
Evidence is sufficient for vulnerability mechanics and impact, but incomplete for affected release ranges and fix details in the supplied bundle. Avoid assuming internet-wide exploitability; exposure depends on APIC or Cloud APIC deployment, MSO integration, credential access, and management API reachability.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco’s advisory for affected releases and fixed software guidance.
- Apply vendor-recommended updates or workarounds where Cisco identifies them.
- Restrict APIC and Cloud APIC API access to trusted management networks.
- Review MSO account permissions and remove unused or excessive credentials.
- Monitor for unexpected administrator credential creation or privilege changes.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco APIC and Cloud APIC deployments connected to MSO.
- Compare deployed versions and configurations with Cisco’s advisory.
- Confirm low-privileged MSO accounts cannot perform administrator-level actions.
- Review audit logs for suspicious API access or privilege escalation events.
- Validate management API exposure is limited to approved administrative paths.
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-636: 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 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 lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-1578 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
- 8.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H2.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20210825 Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller Privilege Escalation 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.
Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open')
Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.