CVE-2021-1245 in Finesse
Summary
by MITRE • 01/14/2021
Multiple vulnerabilities in the web-based management interface of Cisco Finesse could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack and obtain potentially confidential information by leveraging a flaw in the authentication mechanism. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/04/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-1245 affects Cisco Finesse, a web-based customer relationship management platform that integrates with Cisco Unified Contact Center Express. This system serves as a critical interface for contact center agents to manage customer interactions and access sensitive business data. The flaw resides within the web-based management interface, specifically targeting the authentication mechanism that governs access to administrative functions and user sessions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the authentication flow of the Cisco Finesse interface. Attackers can exploit this weakness to inject malicious scripts into the web application through crafted HTTP requests that bypass normal authentication checks. The vulnerability manifests as a cross-site scripting attack vector that allows unauthenticated remote exploitation, meaning an attacker does not require valid credentials to initiate the attack. This represents a fundamental breakdown in the security model where the system fails to properly validate or sanitize user-supplied input before processing authentication requests.
The operational impact of CVE-2021-1245 extends beyond simple script injection, as it enables attackers to potentially obtain confidential information through session hijacking and credential theft. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to access administrative interfaces, view sensitive customer data, modify system configurations, and potentially escalate privileges within the contact center environment. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of the entire Cisco Finesse deployment, as it undermines the foundational security controls that protect business-critical contact center operations. Organizations relying on this platform for customer service management face significant risk of data breaches and operational disruption.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability align with established best practices for preventing cross-site scripting attacks and strengthening authentication mechanisms. Cisco has released patches and updates addressing the specific flaws in the authentication handling and input validation processes. Organizations should implement immediate remediation through official security updates and apply the necessary code modifications to properly encode output and validate all user inputs. Network segmentation and access controls should be enhanced to limit exposure of the management interface, while security monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual authentication patterns and potential exploitation attempts. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining robust authentication frameworks and proper input sanitization, principles that align with CWE-79 for cross-site scripting and CWE-287 for authentication weaknesses. The attack surface for such vulnerabilities is further analyzed through ATT&CK framework categories including T1190 for exploitation of remote services and T1566 for social engineering techniques that could leverage this weakness.