dbcve.org
Thousandeyes RecorderApplication · Cisco

CVE-2021-1537

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.0.5 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 installer software of Cisco ThousandEyes Recorder could allow an unauthenticated, local attacker to access sensitive information that is contained in the ThousandEyes Recorder installer software. This vulnerability exists because sensitive information is included in the application installer. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by downloading the installer and extracting its contents. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access sensitive information that is included in the application installer.

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 confidence

The Cisco ThousandEyes Recorder installer contains embedded sensitive information (likely credentials, secrets, or internal configuration) that can be extracted by downloading the installer and decompressing its contents. This is a local information disclosure vulnerability where the installer package itself is the attack vector, requiring no authentication.

MitigationCisco must release an updated installer with sensitive information removed; users should obtain the fixed installer from official Cisco channels and verify its integrity before deployment. This is a vendor-side fix requiring no customer-side configuration changes beyond using the corrected installer.

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
Thousandeyes RecorderApplication
Affected:< 1.0.5

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Check if Cisco ThousandEyes Recorder is installed
    On Windows, check Program Files or Program Files (x86) for a folder named 'ThousandEyes Recorder' or 'Cisco ThousandEyes Recorder'. On macOS, check /Applications for ThousandEyes Recorder.app. On Linux, check /opt or /usr/local for a thousandeyes-recorder directory.
    Affected if The software is found in the system
  2. Identify the installed version
    Locate the application or installer and check its version property. On Windows, right-click the executable, select Properties, then look at the Details tab for Version. On macOS, right-click the app, select Get Info, and check the Version field. Alternatively, check any version.txt or about file in the application directory.
    Affected if The version displayed is less than 1.0.5 or the version cannot be determined (indicating an old, unpatched release)
  3. Verify the installer source if available
    If you still have the original installer file used to deploy the software, note its filename and compare it to official Cisco download sources. Examine the installer package size - significantly smaller file sizes may indicate the vulnerable version with embedded sensitive data already removed.
    Affected if The installer used was obtained before the fix was released or the installer file is not from an official Cisco channel

You are affected if Cisco ThousandEyes Recorder is installed and the version is identified as less than 1.0.5, indicating the vulnerable installer package was used.

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 1.0.5 or later
Fixed in 1.0.5
Interim mitigation

Cisco must release an updated installer with sensitive information removed; users should obtain the fixed installer from official Cisco channels and verify its integrity before deployment. This is a vendor-side fix requiring no customer-side configuration changes beyond using the corrected installer.

Fix this in Thousandeyes Recorder Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2021-1537 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