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NVD / CVE Program· CNA cisco

CVE-2021-1359: Cisco Web Security Appliance Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 36/100)

  • 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: 1.8% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 79.5% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.
  • Severity is disputed: the assigning authority (CNA) scores it 6.3, NVD 8.8.
  • 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 configuration management of Cisco AsyncOS for Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to perform command injection and elevate privileges to root. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied XML input for the web interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by uploading crafted XML configuration files that contain scripting code to a vulnerable device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system and elevate privileges to root. An attacker would need a valid user account with the rights to upload configuration files to exploit this vulnerability.

HighCVSS 8.8 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded
Published
Jul 8, 2021
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
1.8% · 79th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

36

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
35 / 40 · 8.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
1 / 30 · 1.8%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
8.8
CNA · cisco
6.3
2.5 point gap

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

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.

Follow CVE-2021-1359

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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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.

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Affected 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.

VendorProduct
ciscoweb security appliance
ciscoasyncos

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • cisco asyncos11.8.0 and later · before 12.0.3-005
  • cisco asyncos12.5.0 and later · before 12.5.2
  • cisco web security appliance11.8.0-429
  • cisco web security appliance11.8.0-453

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 Web Security Appliance (WSA)

    • n/aaffected

Same product

cisco: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2015-6298The admin web interface in Cisco AsyncOS 8.x before 8.0.8-113, 8.1.x and 8.5.x before 8.5.3-051, 8.6.x and 8.7.x before 8.7.0-171-LD, and 8.
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2018-0410A vulnerability in the web proxy functionality of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Web Security Appliances could allow an unauthenticated, r
    35Monitor
  • CVE-2015-6292The proxy-cache implementation in Cisco AsyncOS 8.0.x before 8.0.7-151, 8.1.x and 8.5.x before 8.5.2-004, 8.6.x and 8.7.x before 8.7.0-171-L
    32Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2019-15969Sep 22, 2020 · Cisco Web Security Appliance Management Interface Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability
    24Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-1490May 6, 2021 · Cisco Web Security Appliance Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability
    24Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2022-20784Apr 6, 2022 · Cisco Web Security Appliance Filter Bypass Vulnerability
    21Monitor

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 researchers

Finders, 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.

All national notices →

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-112 · Missing XML Validation

CVSS vector

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

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.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records