CVE-2021-1578

highpriority · track · 36EPSS 0.020 · 80 %ileEURUUS

grimoire priorityP2 · Scheduled

Exploitable?

—

no known exploitation

Likely / severe?

1.97% (80th) EPSS

CVSS 9 · high

Is it mine?

8 products

Check your exposure

Who says so?

5 sources

cnnvd · enisa_euvd · fstec_bdu · cisco_csaf

EPSS · scored 2026-10-26

A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Cisco Cloud Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (Cloud APIC) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to elevate privileges to Administrator on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to an improper policy default setting. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using a non-privileged credential for Cisco ACI Multi-Site Orchestrator (MSO) to send a specific API request to a managed Cisco APIC or Cloud APIC device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain Administrator credentials on the affected device.

remediations

Vendor fix, mitigation, or workaround guidance, as published by each source.

A vendor fix is available.

FixedCisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC)cisco_csaf
Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability.
https://software.cisco.com

cvss

Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.

9.0

010

base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode

v2.09highAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:Cprimary · NVD / NIST USexploitability 8 · impact 10

v3.18.8highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hprimary · NVD / NIST USexploitability 2.8 · impact 5.9

v3.18.8highAV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsecondary · FSTEC (BDU) RU

v3.18.8highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsecondary · ENISA EU

v3.18.8highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsecondary · psirt@cisco.com USexploitability 2.8 · impact 5.9

v3.18.1highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:Usecondary · CVSS-BT (t0sche)

v3.18.8highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsecondary · Cisco PSIRT US

ssvc

A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.

Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: totalcoordinatorcisa_ssvcUS

weaknesses

The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.

CWE-755USprimaryCWE-636USCWE-636USCWE-755US

affected products (8)

Products and version ranges known to be affected.

Cisco Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC)all versionscisco_csafUS
Cisco Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC)≤ n/aenisa_euvdEU
Cisco Systems Inc. Application Policy Infrastructure Controller≤ 5.1(3e)fstec_bduRU
Cisco Systems Inc. Cisco Cloud APIC≤ 5.1(3e)fstec_bduRU
cisco application policy infrastructure controller5.0 → 5.1\(3e\)nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application policy infrastructure controller= 5.0(2h)nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco cloud application policy infrastructure controller5.0 → 5.1\(3e\)nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco cloud application policy infrastructure controller= 5.0(2h)nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

advisories (1)

Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.

cisco-sa-capic-pesc-pkmGK4JCisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller Privilege Escalation Vulnerability2021-08-25csaf · cisco_csafUS
A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Cisco Cloud Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (Cloud APIC) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to elevate privileges to Administrator on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to an improper policy default setting. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using a non-privileged credential for Cisco ACI Multi-Site Orchestrator (MSO) to send a specific API request to a managed Cisco APIC or Cloud APIC device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain Administrator credentials on the affected device. Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

also known as (4)

Other names and identifiers for this entity.

sources

Which sources assert this record, and when.

cnnvd enisa_euvd fstec_bdu cisco_csaf nvd NVD CVE.org MITRE

published 2021-08-25modified 2026-06-17

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+697 more

references (4)

External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.

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