Catalyst Sd Wan ManagerApplication · Cisco
CVE-2021-1462
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 CLI of Cisco SD-WAN vManage Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges on an affected system. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to have a valid Administrator account on an affected system. The vulnerability is due to incorrect privilege assignment. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to an affected system with an Administrator account and creating a malicious file, which the system would parse at a later time. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain root privileges on the affected system.Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.
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 confidenceThis is a privilege escalation vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco SD-WAN vManage Software. An authenticated attacker with a valid Administrator account can create a malicious file that gets parsed at a later time, allowing the attacker to obtain root privileges. The vulnerability stems from incorrect privilege assignment in the CLI parsing mechanism.
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 Sd Wan ManagerApplication
= 17.2.4= 17.2.5= 17.2.6= 17.2.7= 17.2.8= 17.2.9= 17.2.10= 18.2.0= 18.3.1= 18.3.1.1= 18.3.3= 18.3.3.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 SD-WAN vManage installationConfirm the system is running Cisco SD-WAN vManage software by checking the product name or running 'show version' in the CLIAffected if The system is not Cisco SD-WAN vManage - not affected
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Check installed vManage versionRun 'show version' or access the Administration > System Settings page to identify the exact version number installedAffected if The installed version matches one of the affected versions: 17.2.4, 17.2.5, 17.2.6, 17.2.7, 17.2.8, 17.2.9, 17.2.10, 18.2.0, 18.3.1, 18.3.1.1, 18.3.3, or 18.3.3.1
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Verify Administrator accounts existCheck user accounts in Administration > User Management to see if any accounts with Administrator role are configuredAffected if Administrator accounts exist - the vulnerability could potentially be exploited since it requires a valid Administrator account
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Review CLI configuration for privilege anomaliesExamine CLI configuration files or logs for any unexpected privilege assignment commands or suspicious file parsing configurationsAffected if Unexpected privilege assignments or unauthorized CLI configuration changes are present
A system is affected if it runs Cisco SD-WAN vManage matching one of the listed versions AND has at least one Administrator account configured, allowing an authenticated attacker to exploit the CLI privilege escalation flaw.
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 dataApply the Cisco software updates that address this vulnerability. Since no workarounds exist, patching is the only remediation path. Ensure proper backup and testing procedures are followed before applying the update to production systems.
Fix this in Catalyst Sd Wan Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1462 — 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-2021-1462 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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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.
- 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
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