CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2021-1264 — Cisco Catalyst Center security vulnerability
A vulnerability in the Command Runner tool of Cisco DNA Center could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to perform a command injection attack. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation by the Command Runner tool. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by providing crafted input during command execution or via a crafted command runner API call. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary CLI commands on devices managed by Cisco DNA Center.
- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.6 (3.1)
- Published
- 2021-01-20
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- software/application
- Weaknesses
- CWE-78
Affected products
- cisco / catalyst_center
Matched remediation archetype
Command, code, expression, and template injection
This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.
Check exposure
- Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
- Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
- Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.
Remediate safely
- Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
- Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
- Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.
Authoritative sources
Complete CVE record and remediation plan
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