dbcve.org
Emergency ResponderApplication · Cisco

CVE-2021-1226

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-01-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.5 / 12.0 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A vulnerability in the audit logging component of Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition, Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM & Presence Service, Cisco Unity Connection, Cisco Emergency Responder, and Cisco Prime License Manager could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to view sensitive information in clear text on an affected system. The vulnerability is due to the storage of certain unencrypted credentials. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by accessing the audit logs on an affected system and obtaining credentials that they may not normally have access to. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to use those credentials to discover and manage network devices.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications products allows authenticated remote attackers to view clear-text credentials stored in audit logs. The audit logging component stores certain credentials unencrypted, enabling attackers with log access to obtain credentials for unauthorized network device management.

MitigationApply Cisco security patches for affected products when available, rotate potentially compromised credentials, and restrict audit log access to minimize attack surface.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Emergency ResponderApplication
Affected:>= 12.5\(1\), < 12.5\(1\)su3= 10.5\(2\)= 11.5\(1\)= 12.0\(1\)
Prime License ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5\(1\), < 11.5\(1\)su9= 10.5\(2\)
Unified Communications ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 11.5\(1\), < 11.5\(1\)su9= 10.5\(2\)
Unified Communications Manager Im \& Presence ServiceApplication
Affected:>= 11.5\(1\), < 11.5\(1\)su9>= 12.5\(1\), < 12.5\(1\)su3= 10.5\(2\)= 12.0\(1\)
Unity ConnectionApplication
Affected:>= 11.5\(1\), < 11.5\(1\)su9>= 12.0\(1\), < 12.0\(1\)su4>= 12.5\(1\), < 12.5\(1\)su3= 10.5\(2\)

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Cisco Unified Communications products
    Run 'show version' or check the product inventory on the system to determine which Cisco UC products are installed (Emergency Responder, Prime License Manager, CUCM, IM & Presence, Unity Connection)
    Affected if Any of the five affected products are installed on the system
  2. Check installed product version
    Use the product's CLI or admin interface to retrieve the exact version number (for example, 'show version' in CUCM or the About page in the web admin)
    Affected if The installed version falls within these vulnerable ranges: 10.5(2), 11.5(1) (any patch before su9), 12.0(1) (any patch before su4 for Unity or before su3 for others), 12.5(1) (any patch before su3), or specifically 12.5(1)su3 for CUCM IM&P
  3. Verify audit logging is enabled
    Check the product's audit logging configuration in the admin interface or via CLI command 'show audit configuration' (or equivalent for each product)
    Affected if Audit logging is enabled - this is required for the vulnerability to be exploitable
  4. Examine audit logs for clear-text credentials
    Access the audit log files (typically in /var/log/audit/ or via the product's Log View page in the admin interface) and search for strings matching passwords or credentials that appear in plain text rather than masked or hashed
    Affected if Clear-text password strings appear in any audit log entries - this confirms active exploitation or vulnerability presence

You are affected if you run any of the five listed products at a vulnerable version AND have audit logging enabled, with clear-text credentials visible in the audit logs indicating the vulnerability is present.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 11.5 / 12.0 / 12.5 or later
Fixed in 11.512.012.5
Interim mitigation

Apply Cisco security patches for affected products when available, rotate potentially compromised credentials, and restrict audit log access to minimize attack surface.

Fix this in Emergency Responder Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,180
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,488.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1226 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-1226 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data