Cisco IOx for IOS XE Software Command Injection Vulnerability

published 2021-03-24 5 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2021-6851

cvss: 6.5; version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 35.4%; EPSS 35.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 98%
public exploits: 0; none known

A vulnerability in Cisco IOx application hosting environment of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to inject commands into the underlying operating system as the root user. This vulnerability is due to incomplete validation of fields in the application packages loaded onto IOx. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a crafted application .tar file and loading it onto the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to perform command injection into the underlying operating system as the root user.

Patch / fix

fixed in 1

cisco ios_xe 16.6.9, 16.9.7, 17.3.3, 17.4.2

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: Proof of concept is public
Automatable: no
Technical impact: total
Assessed: 2 y ago (2024-11-08)

Exploit prediction

35.39% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 98% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

github.com https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/security/advisories/GHSA-h332-fj6p-2232 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
CNA	3.1	6.5	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
NVD	3.1	7.2	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD	2.0	8.5	AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

Affected products

Cisco Cisco IOS XE Software

Classification

Weakness

CWE-77 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command
CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command

Technology feeds

Cisco IOS rss critical rss

References

github.com /orangecertcc/security-research/security/advisories/GHSA-h332-fj6p-2232
exploit, third-party-advisory
tools.cisco.com /security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iox-cmdinj-RkSURGHG
vendor-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2021-1384
NVD CVE-2021-1384

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary