Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-1579 lets a read-only administrator potentially become a write-capable administrator on Cisco APIC or Cloud APIC. The issue is high impact because it can enable unauthorized configuration changes on infrastructure that controls application policy. The attacker must already be authenticated and use an app with admin write credentials.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority for environments using Cisco APIC or Cloud APIC. The main business risk is unauthorized control-plane configuration change by someone who already has limited administrative access.
Technical view
Cisco describes insufficient RBAC in an API endpoint of APIC and Cloud APIC. An authenticated remote attacker with Administrator read-only credentials could send a specific API request through an app with admin write credentials, elevating to Administrator write privileges. CVSS 3.1 is 8.1, with high integrity and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to organizations running Cisco APIC or Cloud APIC where authenticated read-only administrators and apps with admin write credentials exist. Internet exposure is not stated in the sources; assess management API reachability and credential governance.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not indicate CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Exploitation requires authentication and the described credential conditions, but network attack complexity is rated low and no user interaction is required.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports an RBAC failure classified as CWE-250. The public bundle does not provide exploit code, detailed endpoint information, affected version ranges, or confirmed exploitation. Validation should focus on version exposure, role assignments, app credential permissions, and administrative audit trails.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco’s advisory for affected releases, fixed software, and official workarounds.
- Limit APIC and Cloud APIC management/API access to trusted administrative networks.
- Audit Administrator read-only accounts and remove unnecessary access.
- Review apps with admin write credentials and apply least privilege.
- Monitor for unexpected role changes or configuration writes.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco APIC and Cloud APIC deployments and versions.
- Compare deployed versions against Cisco’s advisory guidance.
- Review RBAC configuration for read-only administrator accounts.
- Audit app credentials with administrative write privileges.
- Check logs for read-only admins associated with privileged configuration changes.
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-250: 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 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-2021-1579 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
- 8.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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:N/I:H/A:H2.85.2Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.1HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20210825 Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller App 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.
Execution with Unnecessary Privileges
Execution with Unnecessary Privileges represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.