CVE-2021-1579

highpriority · track · 36EPSS 0.021 · 82 %ileEUUS

grimoire priorityP2 · Scheduled

Exploitable?

—

no known exploitation

Likely / severe?

2.13% (82nd) EPSS

CVSS 9 · high

Is it mine?

8 products

Check your exposure

Who says so?

4 sources

cnnvd · enisa_euvd · cisco_csaf · nvd

EPSS · scored 2026-10-27

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 with Administrator read-only credentials to elevate privileges on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to an insufficient role-based access control (RBAC). An attacker with Administrator read-only credentials could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specific API request using an app with admin write credentials. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to Administrator with write privileges 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

v3.18.1highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:Hsecondary · ENISA EU

v3.18.1highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:Hsecondary · psirt@cisco.com USexploitability 2.8 · impact 5.2

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)

v3.18.1highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:Hsecondary · Cisco PSIRT US

ssvc

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

Trackcoordinatorcisa_ssvcUS

weaknesses

The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.

CWE-269USprimaryCWE-250US

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 application policy infrastructure controller< 3.2\(10f\)nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application policy infrastructure controller4.0 → 4.2\(7l\)nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application policy infrastructure controller5.0 → 5.2\(2f\)nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco cloud application policy infrastructure controller< 3.2\(10f\)nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco cloud application policy infrastructure controller4.0 → 4.2\(7l\)nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco cloud application policy infrastructure controller5.0 → 5.2\(2f\)nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

advisories (1)

Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.

cisco-sa-capic-chvul-CKfGYBh8Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller App 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 with Administrator read-only credentials to elevate privileges on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to an insufficient role-based access control (RBAC). An attacker with Administrator read-only credentials could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specific API request using an app with admin write credentials. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to Administrator with write privileges on the affected device. Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

also known as (3)

Other names and identifiers for this entity.

sources

Which sources assert this record, and when.

cnnvd enisa_euvd cisco_csaf nvd NVD CVE.org MITRE

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

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references (5)

External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.

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