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CVE-2021-1398

6.8 · MEDIUM

A vulnerability in the boot logic of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with level 15 privileges or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to execute arbit…

Published Mar 24, 2021CWE-489EPSS 0.39%

Overview

CVE-2021-1398 is a medium-severity vulnerability. It was published on March 24, 2021 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.8 (MEDIUM).

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.8, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.

Technical description

A vulnerability in the boot logic of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with level 15 privileges or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to execute arbitrary code on the underlying Linux operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to incorrect validations of specific function arguments that are passed to the boot script. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by tampering with a specific file, which an affected device would process during the initial boot process. On systems that are protected by the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) secure boot feature, a successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute unsigned code at boot time and bypass the image verification check in the secure boot process of the affected device.

Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

References

Reftools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-XE-ACE-75K3bRWeReftools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-XE-ACE-75K3bRWe

How CyberStrike helps

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-1398?

CVE-2021-1398 is a medium-severity vulnerability. It was published on March 24, 2021 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.8 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2021-1398?

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.8, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.

How do I fix or remediate CVE-2021-1398?

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2021-1398?

CyberStrike is an open-source, AI-augmented pentesting engine. Rather than flag a version number, it tests whether an issue like CVE-2021-1398 is actually reachable in your own applications and APIs, then verifies each finding before reporting it. That tells you if the weakness is a real, exploitable risk in your environment or a false positive you can safely deprioritize.

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