Dna Spaces\Application · Cisco
CVE-2021-1557
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 · uneditedMultiple vulnerabilities in Cisco DNA Spaces Connector could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system as root. These vulnerabilities are due to insufficient restrictions during the execution of affected CLI commands. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by leveraging the insufficient restrictions during execution of these commands. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges from dnasadmin and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system as root.
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 confidenceCisco DNA Spaces Connector contains multiple vulnerabilities allowing an authenticated local attacker with dnasadmin privileges to escalate to root and execute arbitrary operating system commands. The vulnerabilities stem from insufficient restrictions enforced during CLI command execution, which fail to properly validate or sandbox user inputs.
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
Dna Spaces\Application
< 2.3.1CVSS 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 DNA Spaces Connector installationLocate the Cisco DNA Spaces Connector software on the system. Check for installation directories, running processes, or service entries related to 'dna-spaces' or 'dna spaces connector'.Affected if The system has Cisco DNA Spaces Connector installed
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Determine installed versionRun the command to check the installed version of Cisco DNA Spaces Connector. This may be via package manager, a version command, or by inspecting installation metadata files.Affected if The installed version is lower than 2.3.1 (e.g., 2.3.0, 2.2.x, or earlier)
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Verify dnasadmin account presenceCheck if the 'dnasadmin' user account exists on the system. This can be done by inspecting /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, or using 'getent passwd dnasadmin' or 'id dnasadmin'.Affected if The dnasadmin account exists and is accessible
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Inspect for privilege escalation indicatorsReview system logs, audit logs, and shell history files for any commands executed by dnasadmin that resulted in root-level access or unauthorized command execution. Check /var/log/auth.log, /var/log/secure, or equivalent logs for suspicious activity.Affected if There is evidence of commands executed as root that were initiated by the dnasadmin user, or if the dnasadmin user has been able to run privileged commands outside expected CLI boundaries
The environment is affected if Cisco DNA Spaces Connector is installed with a version lower than 2.3.1 and the dnasadmin account exists and has been used to execute commands at a privilege level higher than intended.
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 data2.3.1
Apply available Cisco patches when released. Until then, strictly limit local access to the dnasadmin account to trusted personnel only, and monitor for any unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.
Fix this in Dna Spaces\
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,544.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1557 — 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-2021-1557 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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