CVE-2021-1452 MEDIUM

CVE-2021-1452: Cisco IOS XE ROM Monitor Software for Cisco Industrial Switches OS Command Injection Vulnerability

Vendor Cisco
Product Cisco IOS XE ROMMON Software
Weakness CWE-78
Published March 24, 2021
Last update November 8, 2024

CVSS base score

6.8/10
Attack vector Physical
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction None
Confidentiality High
Integrity High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

What the vulnerability does

01Description

A vulnerability in the ROM Monitor (ROMMON) of Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst IE3200, IE3300, and IE3400 Rugged Series Switches, Cisco Catalyst IE3400 Heavy Duty Series Switches, and Cisco Embedded Services 3300 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, physical attacker to execute unsigned code at system boot time. This vulnerability is due to incorrect validations of specific function arguments passed to a boot script when specific ROMMON variables are set. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by setting malicious values for a specific ROMMON variable. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute unsigned code and bypass the image verification check during the secure boot process of an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need to have unauthenticated, physical access to the device or obtain privileged access to the root shell on the device.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

March 24, 2021 CVE published
November 8, 2024 Record updated