# CVE-2021-1303: Cisco DNA Center Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

> An authenticated attacker with Observer role can execute unauthorized commands to view diagnostic information, requiring a patch from Cisco.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Jan 2021
- **Updated:** 12 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c27c-3q9w-fj4p

## What is CVE-2021-1303?

CVE-2021-1303 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Digital Network Architecture Center (DNA Center), published on 20 Jan 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the user management roles of Cisco DNA Center could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute unauthorized commands on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper enforcement of actions for assigned user roles. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating as a user with an Observer role and executing commands on the affected device. A successful exploit could allow a user with the Observer role to execute commands to view diagnostic information of the devices that Cisco DNA Center manages.

Weakness: CWE-266 (Incorrect Privilege Assignment)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-1303?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Catalyst Center.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-1303?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-1303 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-1303 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-1303 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Digital Network Architecture Center (DNA Center)

- [CVE-2021-1264](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1264/): Cisco DNA Center Command Runner Command Injection Vulnerability (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2023-20055](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20055/): Cisco DNA Center Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2021-1265](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1265/): Cisco DNA Center Information Disclosure Vulnerability (high 7.7)
- [CVE-2026-20191](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20191/): Cisco Catalyst Center Arbitrary File Read Vulnerability (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2024-20350](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20350/): Cisco Catalyst Center Static SSH Host Key Vulnerability (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-1303 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-1303 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Digital Network Architecture Center (DNA Center), published on 20 Jan 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-1303 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Digital Network Architecture Center (DNA Center). No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1303/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1303/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-1303
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-1303
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-1303

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1303/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.