Evolved Programmable Network ManagerApplication · Cisco
CVE-2021-1487
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 web-based management interface of Cisco Prime Infrastructure and Evolved Programmable Network (EPN) Manager could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on an affected system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input to the web-based management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP requests to the interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system (OS) with the permissions of a special non-root user. In this way, an attacker could take control of the affected system, which would allow them to obtain and alter sensitive data. The attacker could also affect the devices that are managed by the affected system by pushing arbitrary configuration files, retrieving device credentials and confidential information, and ultimately undermining the stability of the devices, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition.
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 confidenceCommand injection vulnerability in Cisco Prime Infrastructure and EPN Manager web-based management interface allows authenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands by sending crafted HTTP requests due to insufficient input validation. The attacker gains execution with permissions of a special non-root user account.
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
Evolved Programmable Network ManagerApplication
< 5.1
Prime InfrastructureApplication
< 3.9CVSS 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.
-
Identify installed Cisco management productRun 'show version' or check installed packages for Cisco Prime Infrastructure or Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager. Look for process names like 'prime' or 'epn' in running processes.Affected if Neither Cisco Prime Infrastructure nor Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager is installed, then not affected.
-
Determine installed version of Cisco Prime InfrastructureLog into the Prime Infrastructure web interface and navigate to Admin > Software Updates > Updates, or run 'show version' from the CLI. Record the exact version number displayed.Affected if Version is less than 3.9 (for example, 3.8.x, 3.7.x, etc.)
-
Determine installed version of Cisco Evolved Programmable Network ManagerLog into the EPN Manager web interface and navigate to Administration > Software Management, or run 'show version' from the CLI. Record the exact version number displayed.Affected if Version is less than 5.1 (for example, 5.0.x, 4.x, etc.)
-
Verify web-based management interface is accessibleCheck if the web management interface (HTTPS on ports 443, 8443, or 8080) is listening and reachable. Use 'netstat -an | grep -E "(443|8443|8080)"' or similar to confirm the service is running.Affected if Web interface is not running or not accessible, then the specific exploitation vector is not available.
User is affected if either Cisco Prime Infrastructure version < 3.9 or Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager version < 5.1 is installed AND the web-based management interface is enabled and accessible.
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.
dbcve · scoped3.95.1
Apply Cisco's available security patches for this vulnerability; if patches are unavailable, restrict web management interface access to trusted networks only and monitor for unauthorized access indicators.
Upgrade to Cisco Prime Infrastructure 3.9 or later / Cisco EPN Manager 5.1 or later
- 1. Identify the currently installed version of Cisco Prime Infrastructure or Evolved Programmable Network (EPN) Manager by accessing the web UI or running 'show version' command
- 2. Confirm whether the installed version is below 3.9 (for Prime Infrastructure) or below 5.1 (for EPN Manager)
- 3. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade, ensuring adequate downtime is allocated
- 4. Perform a full backup of the current configuration and database according to Cisco backup procedures
- 5. Download the fixed software version (3.9 or later for Prime Infrastructure, 5.1 or later for EPN Manager) from Cisco.com software downloads
- 6. Follow Cisco's official upgrade guide to install the fixed release, ensuring proper power backup and monitoring
- 7. After upgrade, verify the new version is installed by checking 'show version'
- 8. Confirm the vulnerability is remediated by reviewing the security advisory on tools.cisco.com
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Evolved Programmable Network Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1487 — 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-2021-1487 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
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.
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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data