# CVE-2021-1385: Cisco IOx Application Environment Path Traversal Vulnerability

> Authenticated attackers can exploit improper URI validation in Cisco IOx to read or write arbitrary files on the host system.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 24 Mar 2021
- **Updated:** 8 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hrv5-5xv9-vp4p

## What is CVE-2021-1385?

CVE-2021-1385 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Ios, published on 24 Mar 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the Cisco IOx application hosting environment of multiple Cisco platforms could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct directory traversal attacks and read and write files on the underlying operating system or host system. This vulnerability occurs because the device does not properly validate URIs in IOx API requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted API request that contains directory traversal character sequences to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read or write arbitrary files on the underlying operating system.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-1385?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cisco Ios, Cisco Ios Xe.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-1385?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-1385 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-1385 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2021-1385 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios

- [CVE-2017-12240](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12240/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software DHCP Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-3881](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-3881/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-0167](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0167/): Cisco IOS, XR, and XE Software Buffer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-6736](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6736/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software SNMP Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-6737](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6737/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software SNMP Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-1385 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-1385 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Ios, published on 24 Mar 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2021-1385 exists.

Affected product: Cisco Ios. 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-2021-1385/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1385/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-1385
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-1385
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-1385

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1385/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.