CVE-2021-1514: Cisco SD-WAN Software Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2021-05-06 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-20

Description

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to inject arbitrary commands to be executed with Administrator privileges on the underlying operating system. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation on certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the device and submitting crafted input to the CLI. The attacker must be authenticated as a low-privileged user to execute the affected commands. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands with Administrator privileges.

Affected products

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager: from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1
Cisco Sd-Wan Vbond Orchestrator: before 18.3; from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1
Cisco Sd-Wan Vmanage: before 18.3 — fixed in 18.3
Cisco Vedge-100B Firmware: before 18.3; from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1
Cisco Vedge 1000 Firmware: before 18.3; from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1
Cisco Vedge 100 Firmware: before 18.3; from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1
Cisco Vedge 100B Firmware: before 18.3; from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1
Cisco Vedge 100M Firmware: before 18.3; from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1
Cisco Vedge 100Wm Firmware: before 18.3; from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1
Cisco Vedge 2000 Firmware: before 18.3; from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1
Cisco Vedge 5000 Firmware: before 18.3; from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1
Cisco Vedge Cloud Firmware: before 18.3; from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1
Cisco Vsmart Controller Firmware: before 18.3; from 20.1 before 20.1.1; from 20.3 before 20.3.1; from 20.4 before 20.4.1; from 20.5 before 20.5.1 — fixed in 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1, 20.5.1; Cisco Sd-Wan Vbond Orchestrator 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1; Cisco Sd-Wan Vmanage 18.3; Cisco Vedge-100B Firmware 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1; Cisco Vedge 1000 Firmware 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1; Cisco Vedge 100 Firmware 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1; Cisco Vedge 100B Firmware 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1; Cisco Vedge 100M Firmware 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1; Cisco Vedge 100Wm Firmware 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1; Cisco Vedge 2000 Firmware 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1; Cisco Vedge 5000 Firmware 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1; Cisco Vedge Cloud Firmware 18.3, 20.1.1, 20.3.1, 20.4.1. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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