dbcve.org
Catalyst Sd Wan ManagerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2021-1513

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-05-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.3.1 / 20.4.1 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
A vulnerability in the vDaemon process of Cisco SD-WAN Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to insufficient handling of malformed packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted traffic to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a 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 · moderate confidence

This vulnerability exists in the vDaemon process of Cisco SD-WAN Software. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit insufficient handling of malformed packets by sending crafted traffic to an affected device, causing it to reload and resulting in a denial of service condition.

MitigationApply the Cisco vendor patch for this vulnerability. Until patched, consider implementing network-level filtering or access controls to limit exposure of the vDaemon interface to untrusted sources.

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:< 20.3.1>= 20.4, < 20.4.1>= 20.5, < 20.5.1
Sd Wan Vbond OrchestratorApplication
Affected:all versions
Vsmart Controller FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Vedge 100 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Vedge 1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Vedge 100b FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Vedge 100m FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Vedge 100wm FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 the Cisco SD-WAN product type
    Log into the device CLI and run 'show version' to determine if the device is a vBond Orchestrator, vSmart Controller, vEdge router, or SD-WAN Manager
    Affected if The device is any of these product types and the software version falls outside the fixed releases (20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1 or later)
  2. Check the installed software version
    Run 'show version' and locate the Cisco SD-WAN Software version string (for example, 20.3.x, 20.4.x, 20.5.x)
    Affected if The version is below 20.3.1, or is 20.4.x below 20.4.1, or is 20.5.x below 20.5.1, or for vBond/vSmart/vEdge devices the version is any (all versions affected)
  3. Verify the vDaemon process is running
    Run 'show processes vdaemon' or 'ps -ef | grep vdaemon' on the device CLI to confirm the vDaemon process is active
    Affected if vDaemon is running and the device version matches the affected version ranges above
  4. Confirm network exposure of the vDaemon interface
    Run 'show interface' and 'show ip route' to identify which interfaces the vDaemon listens on, and check if these interfaces are accessible from untrusted networks
    Affected if The vDaemon-facing interface (typically the WAN/transport interfaces) is reachable from untrusted or internet-facing networks without filtering

The environment is affected if the device runs any Cisco SD-WAN product (vBond, vSmart, vEdge, or SD-WAN Manager) with a version that falls within the affected ranges, and the vDaemon process is accessible to untrusted network traffic.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 20.3.1 / 20.4.1 / 20.5.1 or later
Fixed in 20.3.120.4.120.5.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the Cisco vendor patch for this vulnerability. Until patched, consider implementing network-level filtering or access controls to limit exposure of the vDaemon interface to untrusted sources.

Fix this in Catalyst Sd Wan Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,180
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,488.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-1513 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