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CVE Record

CVE-2021-1618: Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance Vulnerabilities

Multiple vulnerabilities in the web-based management interface of Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct a path traversal or command injection attack on an affected system. These vulnerabilities are due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by using the web-based management interface to do one or both of the following: Execute a command using crafted input Upload a file that has been altered using path traversal techniques A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read and write arbitrary files or execute arbitrary commands as root on an affected system. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

MediumCVSS 6.5Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

An attacker who already has a high-privileged account could abuse Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance’s management interface to run commands or read/write files as root. This is not a drive-by internet bug, but compromise of an admin account or insider misuse could become full appliance control.

Executive priority

Treat this as a targeted administrative-plane risk. Prioritize if the appliance manages sensitive infrastructure or if admin access is broadly assigned. The urgency is lower than unauthenticated internet-exploited issues, but root-level impact justifies timely validation and remediation.

Technical view

CVE-2021-1618 covers path traversal and command injection in the web-based management interface, caused by insufficient input validation. Exploitation is remote and network-based, but requires high privileges. Successful exploitation can allow arbitrary file read/write or arbitrary command execution as root. CVSS v3.1 score is 6.5.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance deployments with reachable web management interfaces and users holding high privileges. The supplied sources do not identify specific affected version ranges, so teams should confirm applicability through Cisco’s advisory and asset inventory.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not report active exploitation, and CISA KEV status is false. Practical exploitation requires authenticated high-privilege access, making account compromise, excessive administrator access, or insider misuse the main concern.

Researcher notes

The key constraints are PR:H and UI:N with high confidentiality and integrity impact. The bundle identifies CWE-36 and mentions command injection, but does not provide separate identifiers, fixed versions, exploit details, or workaround text. Avoid assuming affected versions beyond Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance.

Mitigation direction

  • Review Cisco’s advisory for affected releases, fixed versions, and official guidance.
  • Restrict management interface access to trusted administrative networks only.
  • Audit and reduce high-privilege accounts on affected appliances.
  • Enforce strong authentication and credential hygiene for appliance administrators.
  • Monitor appliance logs for suspicious file or command activity.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory all Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance deployments.
  • Confirm appliance versions against Cisco’s advisory guidance.
  • Verify the management interface is not broadly reachable.
  • Review privileged user lists for unnecessary access.
  • Check logs for unusual authenticated administrative actions.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
3

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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 · low confidence lookup

CWE-36: 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 lookup
description · low confidence lookup

Execution 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 lookup
description · low confidence lookup

File access behavior lookup

The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2021-1618 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
6.5 (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:N

Official CVE source material

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.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
2Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We 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.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
6.5CVSS 3.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N1.25.2Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

6.5Medium
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2021-1618Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
CiscoCisco Intersight Virtual Appliancen/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-36 · source CWE mapping

Absolute Path Traversal

Absolute Path Traversal represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.