# CVE-2021-1369: Cisco Firepower Device Manager On-Box Software XML External Entity Vulnerability

> Authenticated attackers can exploit XXE in Cisco FDM to read local files and cause partial denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L`)
- **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:** 29 Apr 2021
- **Updated:** 8 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9qgx-q669-3c22

## What is CVE-2021-1369?

CVE-2021-1369 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software, published on 29 Apr 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the REST API of Cisco Firepower Device Manager (FDM) On-Box Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to gain read and write access to information that is stored on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to the improper handling of XML External Entity (XXE) entries when parsing certain XML files. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending malicious requests that contain references in XML entities to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to retrieve files from the local system, resulting in the disclosure of sensitive information or causing a partial denial of service (DoS) condition on the affected device.

Weakness: CWE-611 (Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-1369?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Firepower Device Manager.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-1369?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-1369 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-1369 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-1369 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software

- [CVE-2021-1489](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1489/): Cisco Firepower Device Manager Software Filesystem Space Exhaustion Denial of Service Vulnerability (medium 4.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-1369 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-1369 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software, published on 29 Apr 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-2021-1369 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software. 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-2021-1369/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1369/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-1369
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-1369
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-1369

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1369/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.