Firepower Device ManagerApplication · Cisco
CVE-2021-1369
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 REST API of Cisco Firepower Device Manager (FDM) On-Box Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to gain read and write access to information that is stored on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to the improper handling of XML External Entity (XXE) entries when parsing certain XML files. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending malicious requests that contain references in XML entities to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to retrieve files from the local system, resulting in the disclosure of sensitive information or causing a partial denial of service (DoS) condition on the affected device.
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 · high confidenceAn XXE vulnerability in the REST API of Cisco Firepower Device Manager (FDM) On-Box Software allows authenticated remote attackers to exploit improper handling of XML External Entity entries when parsing XML files, enabling file retrieval from the local system and potential partial DoS.
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
Firepower Device ManagerApplication
< 6.5.0.5>= 6.6.0, < 6.6.3CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L
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 the FDM deployment typeConfirm you are using Cisco Firepower Device Manager On-Box (local management) and not Firepower Management Center (FMC) or cloud-managed FDM. Check the product name in the web interface or CLI.Affected if If you are using FDM On-Box (local device management), proceed to version check; this vulnerability does not apply to FMC or cloud-managed deployments.
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Check installed FDM versionLog into the FDM web interface and navigate to the Help > About page, or run 'show version' in the FDM CLI to display the software version number.Affected if Your system is affected if the version is less than 6.5.0.5, OR greater than or equal to 6.6.0 but less than 6.6.3.
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Confirm REST API is enabledIn the FDM web interface, go to Tools & References > API Settings, or check via CLI with 'show api-settings' to verify whether the REST API interface is enabled.Affected if The vulnerability is only exploitable if the REST API is enabled and accessible to authenticated users.
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Review API access controlsCheck the list of users with API access privileges in the FDM user management section, and verify that access is restricted to trusted authenticated personnel only.Affected if If untrusted or unauthorized accounts have API access, the XXE exploit could be triggered by those users.
You are affected if you run Cisco FDM On-Box software version 6.5.0 through 6.5.0.4 or 6.6.0 through 6.6.2, and the REST API is enabled for 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 data6.5.0.56.6.3
Apply the vendor patch from Cisco for FDM software; until then, restrict API access to trusted authenticated users and monitor for suspicious XML-based requests.
Fix this in Firepower Device Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,160.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1369 — 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-2021-1369 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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