CVE-2021-1589 | Cisco SD-WAN vManage Software Disaster Recovery Feature Password Exposure Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the disaster recovery feature of Cisco SD-WAN vManage Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to gain unauthorized access to user credentials. This vulnerability exists because access to API endpoints is not properly restricted. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a request to an API endpoint. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain unauthorized access to administrative credentials that could be used in further attacks.

Published: 2021-09-23 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-1589 is rated Moderate Risk (46.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.94%). Mandatory action: 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-2021-1589

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 2026-06-15 0.24% 0.94% +0.70%
2 2025-10-22 0.36% 0.24% -0.12%
3 2025-03-30 0.36%

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-1589

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]
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]
3.5 2.0 LOW
AV:N/AC:M/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:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
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.
6.8 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-1589

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-1589

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco sd-wan >= 20.3, < 20.3.4 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:sd-wan:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco sd-wan >= 20.4, < 20.4.2 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:sd-wan:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco sd-wan >= 20.5, < 20.5.2 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:sd-wan:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco sd-wan >= 20.6, < 20.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:sd-wan:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-1589

cvelogic Threat Intelligence