CVE-2021-1132: Cisco Network Services Orchestrator Path Traversal Vulnerability
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Monitor (action score 30/100)
- The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.6% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 76.2% of all records.
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
- According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.
- Severity is disputed: the assigning authority (CNA) scores it 5.3, NVD 7.5.
- Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).
Low priority for now. Update when a fix is released; follow the vendor's advisory.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS
A vulnerability in the API subsystem and in the web-management interface of Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to access sensitive data. This vulnerability exists because the web-management interface and certain HTTP-based APIs do not properly validate user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request that contains directory traversal character sequences to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access sensitive files on the affected system.Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.
- Published
- Nov 18, 2024
- Updated
- Jun 16, 2026
- EPSS
- 1.6% · 76th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-35
Report tools
Action score
30
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 1.6%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- yes
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 7.5
- CNA · cisco
- 5.3
- 2.2 point gap
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N/RL:X/RC:X/E:X
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Get told when this record changes
- Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
- No public exploit code on record
- No fixed version yet
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| cisco | network services orchestrator | cpe:2.3:a:cisco:network_services_orchestrator |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- cisco network services orchestrator5.3.1
- cisco network services orchestrator5.4
- cisco network services orchestrator5.4.0.1
- cisco network services orchestrator5.4.0.2
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (cisco). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
Cisco Cisco Network Services Orchestrator
- 5.3.1, 5.4.0.1, 5.4, 5.4.0.2affected
Same product
cisco: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2018-0274A vulnerability in the CLI parser of Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbi36Monitor
- CVE-2024-20366A vulnerability in the Tail-f High Availability Cluster Communications (HCC) function pack of Cisco Crosswork Network Services Orchestrator 31Monitor
- CVE-2018-0463Cisco Network Services Orchestrator Network Plug and Play Information Disclosure Vulnerability30Monitor
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2020-3362Jun 17, 2020 · Cisco Network Services Orchestrator Information Disclosure Vulnerability18Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2023-20040Jan 20, 2023 · A vulnerability in the NETCONF service of Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a22Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2024-20369May 15, 2024 · A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Crosswork Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) could allow an unauthenticated,24Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)
Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.
- TR-21-0194 · Mar 4, 2021(Cisco Güvenlik Güncellemesi Yayınladı)
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- none
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- None
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-35 · Path Traversal: '.../...//'CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.
Change log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
Show all references (5 more)Show less
- sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-nso-path-trvsl-dZRQE8Lc
- sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-vmaninfdis3-OvdR6uu8
- sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwanvman-infodis1-YuQScHB
- sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-snort-ethernet-dos-HGXgJH8n
- sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-webex-distupd-N87eB6Z3
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.