Intersight Virtual ApplianceApplication · Cisco
CVE-2021-34748
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to perform a command injection attack on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using the web-based management interface to execute a command using crafted input. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands using root-level privileges on an affected device.
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 confidenceA command injection vulnerability exists in the web-based management interface of Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance due to insufficient input validation. An authenticated attacker can exploit this by sending crafted input through the web interface, allowing execution of arbitrary commands with root-level privileges on the affected virtual appliance.
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
Intersight Virtual ApplianceApplication
>= 1.0.9-150, <= 1.0.9-292CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Intersight Virtual Appliance versionAccess the appliance management console or use the Intersight UI: navigate to Settings > System > About. The version number displays in the format like 1.0.9-XXX.Affected if The displayed version falls within the range 1.0.9-150 through 1.0.9-292 (inclusive).
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Confirm web-based management interface is accessibleVerify that the web interface (HTTP/HTTPS on port 443 or 80) is reachable from network locations. Check if the management interface service is running via the appliance console or hypervisor guest tools.Affected if The web management interface is enabled and reachable from any network beyond the local hypervisor console.
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Review administrative user accountsLog into Intersight and navigate to Admin > Users or IAM > Users. List all users with Administrator or write-level privileges.Affected if There are multiple administrative accounts, especially any unrecognized or newly created accounts.
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Audit recent system command executionsCheck appliance logs for command injection indicators: review system logs via the appliance console for unexpected shell commands, or grep /var/log for suspicious command patterns (such as ';', '|', '`', '$(' followed by commands like 'cat', 'ls', 'wget', 'curl').Affected if Logs contain commands that were not initiated by known administrators or contain suspicious injection patterns.
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Inspect for unexpected processes or network connectionsFrom the appliance console or via SSH (if enabled), run 'ps aux' or check for listening ports with 'netstat -tulpn' to identify unknown processes or outbound connections to unfamiliar destinations.Affected if Unexpected root-level processes are running or the appliance has outbound connections to unknown external IPs.
A user is affected if their Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance version is 1.0.9-150 through 1.0.9-292 AND the web-based management interface is accessible to them or an attacker.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply Cisco's official patch when available; until then, restrict access to the web-based management interface to trusted networks only and limit the number of authenticated users with administrative privileges.
Intersight Virtual Appliance version 1.0.9-293 or later (or latest available release)
- 1. Identify the current version of Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance by accessing the management interface and navigating to the Appliance Settings or About section.
- 2. If the current version is between 1.0.9-150 and 1.0.9-292 (inclusive), the appliance is vulnerable.
- 3. Download the latest Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance release from the Cisco Software Download center or access it through your Cisco Smart Account.
- 4. Follow the Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance upgrade procedure documented in the installation and upgrade guide, which typically involves uploading the new OVA/ISO image and running the upgrade from the management interface.
- 5. After upgrade, verify the new version is 1.0.9-293 or later by checking the Appliance Settings.
- 6. Validate that the web-based management interface is functional and no errors are present.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Intersight Virtual Appliance
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,968.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-34748 — 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-2021-34748 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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