CVE-2021-1579 | Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller App Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Cisco Cloud Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (Cloud APIC) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with Administrator read-only credentials to elevate privileges on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to an insufficient role-based access control (RBAC). An attacker with Administrator read-only credentials could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specific API request using an app with admin write credentials. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to Administrator with write privileges on the affected device.

Published: 2021-08-25 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-1579 is rated Moderate Risk (58.5/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.83%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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-2021-1579

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 2026-04-21 0.86% 0.83% -0.03%
2 2025-11-21 0.73% 0.86% +0.12%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.73% —

Full EPSS history (14 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-1579

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H 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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 5.2 [email protected]
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 5.9 [email protected]
9.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C 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:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 8.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-1579

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-1579

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller < 3.2\(10f\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller >= 4.0, < 4.2\(7l\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller >= 5.0, < 5.2\(2f\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller < 3.2\(10f\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller >= 4.0, < 4.2\(7l\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller >= 5.0, < 5.2\(2f\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-1579

cvelogic Threat Intelligence