CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-1577 — Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.1

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 unauthenticated, remote attacker to read or write arbitrary files on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to improper access control. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using a specific API endpoint to upload a file to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read or write arbitrary files on an affected device.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.1 (3.1)
Published
2021-08-25
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-284

Affected products

  • cisco / application_policy_infrastructure_controller
  • cisco / cloud_application_policy_infrastructure_controller

Showing 2 representative product identities from 6 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Authorization bypass, IDOR, and cross-tenant access

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Check exposure

  • Map object and action authorization checks across API, UI, batch, import/export, and background-job paths.
  • Identify tenant, ownership, role, and policy boundaries for affected resources and administrative operations.
  • Use synthetic fixtures to compare intended access matrices without accessing another user's real data.

Remediate safely

  • Enforce server-side authorization at each resource access and state transition using the authenticated principal and trusted tenant context.
  • Scope data queries by tenant and ownership; treat client-supplied identifiers, roles, and policy claims as untrusted.
  • Add deny-by-default policy tests for horizontal and vertical access across every affected transport.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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