CVE-2021-1198 in Small Business
Summary
by MITRE • 01/14/2021
Multiple vulnerabilities in the web-based management interface of Cisco Small Business RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W Routers could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause an affected device to restart unexpectedly. The vulnerabilities are due to improper validation of user-supplied input in the web-based management interface. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending crafted HTTP requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code as the root user on the underlying operating system or cause the device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker would need to have valid administrator credentials on the affected device. Cisco has not released software updates that address these vulnerabilities.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/13/2021
The CVE-2021-1198 vulnerability affects Cisco Small Business routers including RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV215W models, representing a critical security flaw in their web-based management interfaces. These devices are commonly deployed in small business environments where they serve as network gateways and security appliances. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the web interface, creating a pathway for authenticated remote code execution attacks. This flaw fundamentally compromises the integrity of the device's security model by allowing malicious actors with administrative credentials to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with root-level access.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through crafted HTTP requests sent to the affected device's management interface. The improper input validation allows attackers to inject malicious payloads that bypass normal security checks and authentication mechanisms. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which describes improper input validation, and CWE-79, which covers cross-site scripting vulnerabilities. The attack vector requires an authenticated session since valid administrator credentials are necessary to access the vulnerable web interface. This authentication requirement provides some defense-in-depth but does not eliminate the risk entirely, as credential compromise can occur through various means including social engineering, password reuse, or other attack vectors targeting the administrative accounts.
The operational impact of successful exploitation is severe and multifaceted, encompassing both persistent code execution and denial of service conditions. When exploited, attackers can execute arbitrary code as the root user, effectively taking complete control of the device and potentially the entire network segment it protects. This root-level access enables attackers to modify device configurations, establish persistent backdoors, monitor network traffic, or use the compromised device as a launch point for further attacks against internal systems. The device reload functionality provides an additional attack vector for denial of service scenarios, where attackers can repeatedly trigger device reboots, disrupting network connectivity and potentially causing configuration loss or data corruption.
From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to multiple techniques including T1059.007 for command and script interpreter and T1566 for credential harvesting, as the exploitation requires administrative credentials. The vulnerability also enables T1068 for local privilege escalation and T1489 for denial of service. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to limit access to administrative interfaces, enforcing strong authentication controls, implementing network monitoring to detect suspicious HTTP traffic patterns, and establishing regular security assessments of network infrastructure. The lack of official software updates from Cisco for these affected models necessitates additional defensive measures such as network access controls, intrusion detection systems, and monitoring for anomalous administrative activities that could indicate exploitation attempts.