CVE-2021-1488 Command injection in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
Authenticated local attackers can inject commands with root privileges via crafted upgrade packages on Cisco ASA and FTD devices.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2021-1488?
CVE-2021-1488 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, published on 29 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 upgrade process of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to inject commands that could be executed with root privileges on the underlying operating system (OS). This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by uploading a crafted upgrade package file to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to inject commands that could be executed with root privileges on the underlying OS.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-1488?
It affects 2 products.
Products include Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense.
How do I fix CVE-2021-1488?
No fix has been published for CVE-2021-1488 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.
Is CVE-2021-1488 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-1488 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software
- CVE-2025-20333 Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Buffer Overflow
- CVE-2016-6366 Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SNMP Buffer Overflow
- CVE-2026-20349 Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Heap Inspection
- CVE-2024-20353 Cisco ASA and FTD Denial of Service
- CVE-2016-6367 Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) CLI Remote Code Execution
All Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software vulnerabilities
Sources
Also known as GHSA-wj4x-hm5q-r6w4.