CVE-2021-1265 | Cisco DNA Center Information Disclosure Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the configuration archive functionality of Cisco DNA Center could allow any privilege-level authenticated, remote attacker to obtain the full unmasked running configuration of managed devices. The vulnerability is due to the configuration archives files being stored in clear text, which can be retrieved by various API calls. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the device and executing a series of API calls. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to retrieve the full unmasked running configurations of managed devices.

Published: 2021-01-20 Last update: 2025-07-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-1265 is rated Low Risk (33.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.09%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-1265

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-03-17 0.15% 0.09% -0.06%
2 2025-03-01 0.09% 0.15% +0.06%
3 2023-03-07 0.09%

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-1265

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.8 3.6 [email protected]
7.7 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.1 4.0 [email protected]
4.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
8.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-1265

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-1265

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco catalyst_center < 2.1.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:catalyst_center:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-1265

cvelogic Threat Intelligence