CVE-2021-1579: Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller App Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Severity: high (CVSS 8.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 2.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2021-08-25 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-250

Description

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 authenticated, remote attacker with Administrator read-only credentials to elevate privileges on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to an insufficient role-based access control (RBAC). An attacker with Administrator read-only credentials could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specific API request using an app with admin write credentials. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to Administrator with write privileges on the affected device.

Affected products

Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC): before 3.2\(10f\); from 4.0 before 4.2\(7l\); from 5.0 before 5.2\(2f\) — fixed in 3.2\(10f\), 4.2\(7l\), 5.2\(2f\)
Cisco Cloud Application Policy Infrastructure Controller: before 3.2\(10f\); from 4.0 before 4.2\(7l\); from 5.0 before 5.2\(2f\) — fixed in 3.2\(10f\), 4.2\(7l\), 5.2\(2f\)

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) 3.2\(10f\), 4.2\(7l\), 5.2\(2f\); Cisco Cloud Application Policy Infrastructure Controller 3.2\(10f\), 4.2\(7l\), 5.2\(2f\). Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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