CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-1256 — Cisco Firepower Threat Defense security vulnerability

Medium CVSS 6

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to overwrite files on the file system of an affected device by using directory traversal techniques. A successful exploit could cause system instability if important system files are overwritten. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user input for the file path in a specific CLI command. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to a targeted device and issuing a specific CLI command with crafted user input. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to overwrite arbitrary files on the file system of the affected device. The attacker would need valid user credentials on the device.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
6 (3.1)
Published
2021-04-29
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-552, CWE-22

Affected products

  • cisco / firepower_threat_defense

Showing 1 representative product identities from 2 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Path traversal, unsafe upload, and file handling

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted filenames, archive entries, URLs, and path segments into read, write, include, extraction, and upload operations.
  • Identify filesystem roots, mount permissions, symbolic-link behavior, archive handling, and whether uploaded content is web-accessible or executable.
  • Review canonicalization and containment checks across supported operating systems and storage backends.

Remediate safely

  • Generate server-side storage identifiers and resolve paths beneath a fixed root using filesystem-aware containment checks.
  • Reject absolute, parent-relative, alternate-separator, device, link, and archive entries that escape the intended root.
  • Store uploads outside executable or served paths, validate type and size, and use private atomic temporary files.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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