Skip to main content

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

CVE-2021-1384

High
7.2/10

Summary

A vulnerability in Cisco IOx application hosting environment of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to inject commands into the underlying operating system as the root user. This vulnerability is due to incomplete validation of fields in the application packages loaded onto IOx. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a crafted application .tar file and loading it onto the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to perform command injection into the underlying operating system as the root user.

  • LOW
  • NETWORK
  • HIGH
  • UNCHANGED
  • NONE
  • HIGH
  • HIGH
  • HIGH

CWE-78 - OS Command Injection

The OS command injection weakness (also known as shell injection) is a vulnerability which enables an attacker to run arbitrary OS commands on a server. This is done by modifying the intended downstream OS command and injecting arbitrary commands, enabling the execution of unauthorized OS commands. This has the potential to fully compromise the application along with all of its data, and, if the compromised process does not follow the principle of least privileges, it may compromise other parts of the hosting infrastructure as well. This weakness is listed as number ten in the 'CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses'.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published