Metamako Operating SystemOperating system · Arista

CVE-2021-28493

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.32.0 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
In Arista's MOS (Metamako Operating System) software which is supported on the 7130 product line, under certain conditions, a user may be able to execute commands despite not having the privileges to do so. This issue affects: Arista Metamako Operating System All releases in the MOS-0.1x train MOS-0.32.0 and prior releases

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

Local privilege escalation vulnerability in Arista MOS (Metamako Operating System) on the 7130 product line. Under certain conditions, users without proper privileges can execute commands they should not have access to, allowing unauthorized command execution.

MitigationApply vendor patches or updates to MOS software. Until patched, restrict device access to trusted administrative users only and monitor for unauthorized command execution.

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
Metamako Operating SystemOperating system
Affected:<= 0.32.0

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 the MOS version
    Access the device CLI or management interface and retrieve the Metamako Operating System version number. This is typically done via a 'show version' or 'show system' command, or by checking the system information page in the management GUI.
    Affected if The displayed version is 0.32.0 or any earlier version (e.g., 0.31.x, 0.30.x, etc.)
  2. Confirm the 7130 product line
    Verify that the hardware is part of the Arista 7130 series of network devices. This can be confirmed via 'show hardware' or 'show chassis' command output, or by inspecting the physical device labeling.
    Affected if The device is an Arista 7130 series platform running the affected MOS version.
  3. Review user privilege assignments
    Examine the configured user accounts and their privilege levels using commands like 'show users' or by reviewing the user database in the MOS configuration. Identify which accounts are assigned administrative versus limited/non-privileged roles.
    Affected if There are multiple user accounts present, including accounts with non-administrative or restricted privilege levels.
  4. Audit command execution logs
    Review system logs, command history, or audit logs for any instances where commands were executed by users operating outside their expected privilege scope. Look for unauthorized or unexpected command entries in the log files.
    Affected if Evidence exists of commands run by non-privileged users that should have been restricted to administrative accounts only.

The environment is affected if the device runs Arista MOS version 0.32.0 or earlier on the 7130 product line and has users with limited privileges who could potentially execute restricted commands.

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 a release after 0.32.0
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patches or updates to MOS software. Until patched, restrict device access to trusted administrative users only and monitor for unauthorized command execution.

Fix this in Metamako Operating System Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-28493 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-28493 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