# CVE-2021-1485: Cisco IOS XR Software Command Injection Vulnerability

> Authenticated local attackers can inject commands to execute arbitrary code with root privileges on Cisco IOS XR devices.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 Apr 2021
- **Updated:** 8 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hfm2-m84q-6rc9

## What is CVE-2021-1485?

CVE-2021-1485 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xr, published on 8 Apr 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to inject arbitrary commands that are executed with root privileges on the underlying Linux operating system (OS) of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of commands that are supplied by the user. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to a device and submitting crafted input to an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands on the underlying Linux OS with root privileges.

Weakness: CWE-88 (Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-1485?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios Xr.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-1485?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-1485 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-1485 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-1485 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios Xr

- [CVE-2020-3118](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3118/): Cisco IOS XR Software Discovery Protocol Format String (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-3569](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3569/): Cisco IOS XR Software DVMRP Memory Exhaustion (high 8.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-3566](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3566/): Cisco IOS XR Software DVMRP Memory Exhaustion (high 8.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2010-3035](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3035/): Cisco IOS XR Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Denial-of-Service (high 7.5, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-20821](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20821/): Cisco IOS XR Open Port (medium 6.5, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-1485 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-1485 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xr, published on 8 Apr 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-1485 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Ios Xr. 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-2021-1485/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1485/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-1485
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-1485
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-1485

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1485/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.