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Catalyst Sd Wan ManagerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2021-1505

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-05-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.3.3 / 20.4.1 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco SD-WAN vManage Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code or gain access to sensitive information, or allow an authenticated, local attacker to gain escalated privileges or gain unauthorized access to the application. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

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

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco SD-WAN vManage Software allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to execute arbitrary code or gain access to sensitive information, while an authenticated local attacker can escalate privileges or gain unauthorized application access. The vulnerabilities stem from improper input validation and authentication mechanisms.

MitigationApply Cisco-provided patches per the security advisory; restrict network access to vManage management interfaces and follow least-privilege principles for local user accounts.

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
Affected:>= 20.4, < 20.4.1>= 20.5, < 20.5.1
Sd Wan VmanageApplication
Affected:< 20.3.3

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed vManage version
    Access the vManage web UI and navigate to Administration > Settings > Software Repository, or use the CLI command 'show version' to determine the software version.
    Affected if The installed version is less than 20.3.3, or between 20.4.0 and 20.4.0.x, or between 20.5.0 and 20.5.0.x.
  2. Confirm vManage release family
    Check the full version string including the maintenance release number (for example, 20.4.1, 20.5.1, or 20.3.3).
    Affected if The version falls within these vulnerable ranges: < 20.3.3, >= 20.4.0 but < 20.4.1, >= 20.5.0 but < 20.5.1.
  3. Verify management interface exposure
    Review network configuration to determine if the vManage management interface (typically port 443 or 8443) is accessible from untrusted networks or the internet.
    Affected if The management interface is exposed to networks that are not trusted or not behind a properly configured firewall.
  4. Check authentication configuration
    Review user accounts and authentication settings in vManage under Administration > User Management to confirm local authentication is enabled.
    Affected if Local user authentication is configured and the system is running a vulnerable software version.

A user is affected if their Cisco SD-WAN vManage software version is below 20.3.3, between 20.4.0 and 20.4.0.x, or between 20.5.0 and 20.5.0.x, and the management interface is network-accessible.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 20.3.3 / 20.4.1 / 20.5.1 or later
Fixed in 20.3.320.4.120.5.1
Interim mitigation

Apply Cisco-provided patches per the security advisory; restrict network access to vManage management interfaces and follow least-privilege principles for local user accounts.

Recommended fix High confidence

Catalyst SD-WAN Manager: 20.4.1 (for 20.4.x) or 20.5.1 (for 20.5.x); SD-WAN Vmanage: 20.3.3 or later

  1. Identify the currently installed Cisco SD-WAN vManage version using the web UI or CLI
  2. For Catalyst SD-WAN Manager: If running 20.4.x, upgrade to version 20.4.1 or later
  3. For Catalyst SD-WAN Manager: If running 20.5.x, upgrade to version 20.5.1 or later
  4. For SD-WAN Vmanage: If running any version before 20.3.3, upgrade to version 20.3.3 or later
  5. Download the appropriate upgrade image from Cisco (requires valid SMART license and CCO account)
  6. Follow Cisco's standard upgrade procedure for SD-WAN vManage, which typically involves: uploading the image via the vManage Admin screen, initiating the upgrade, and allowing sufficient time for the process to complete
  7. After upgrade, verify the new version is installed and test critical functionality
Caveat Review Cisco SD-WAN release notes for any configuration or compatibility changes between your current and target versions before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Catalyst Sd Wan Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,616.

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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-2021-1505 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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