Catalyst CenterApplication · Cisco
CVE-2021-1264
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the Command Runner tool of Cisco DNA Center could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to perform a command injection attack. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation by the Command Runner tool. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by providing crafted input during command execution or via a crafted command runner API call. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary CLI commands on devices managed by Cisco DNA Center.
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 confidenceCisco DNA Center's Command Runner tool suffers from a command injection vulnerability due to insufficient input validation. An authenticated attacker can inject arbitrary CLI commands through crafted input during command execution or via API calls, allowing execution of commands on all devices managed by the DNA Center platform.
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
Catalyst CenterApplication
< 1.3.1.0CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Cisco DNA Center / Catalyst Center versionAccess the administration interface and navigate to the System > Settings > About page, or use the CLI command 'show version' on the appliance to retrieve the installed software version.Affected if The installed version is lower than 1.3.1.0 (for example, 1.2.x, 1.1.x, or 1.0.x releases).
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Verify Command Runner tool statusIn the DNA Center web interface, go to Tools > Command Runner to confirm whether the Command Runner functionality is accessible or visible to users.Affected if The Command Runner tool is present and enabled in the interface, allowing users to execute commands on managed devices.
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Review Command Runner access controlsCheck the user roles and permissions assigned in DNA Center under Administration > Users and Roles to determine which users have access to the Command Runner functionality.Affected if Any authenticated user account (including non-administrative accounts) has permissions to access or use the Command Runner tool.
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Inspect audit and command execution logsReview DNA Center system logs and command execution history logs for any unexpected or suspicious CLI commands that may indicate exploitation, typically found under Tools > Command Runner History or in the system logging facility.Affected if Command history shows commands that were not intentionally submitted by authorized administrators, or contains unusual command patterns indicative of injection.
Your environment is affected if Cisco DNA Center/Catalyst Center version is below 1.3.1.0 AND the Command Runner tool is enabled and accessible to authenticated users.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data1.3.1.0
Apply the Cisco security patch for CVE-2021-1264. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict Command Runner tool access to only trusted administrative users and monitor for suspicious command patterns.
Fix this in Catalyst Center
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,144.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1264 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-1264 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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