# CVE-2021-1522: Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Strong Authentication Requirements Enforcement Bypass

> Authenticated attackers can bypass strong password policy enforcement via the change password API in Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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:** 4 Aug 2021
- **Updated:** 7 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8xp5-3f4x-88fr

## What is CVE-2021-1522?

CVE-2021-1522 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences, published on 4 Aug 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the change password API of Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to alter their own password to a value that does not comply with the strong authentication requirements that are configured on an affected device. This vulnerability exists because a password policy check is incomplete at the time a password is changed at server side using the API. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted API request to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to change their own password to a value that does not comply with the configured strong authentication requirements.

Weakness: CWE-521 (Weak Password Requirements), CWE-255

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-1522?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-1522?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-1522 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-1522 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-1522 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences

- [CVE-2021-1144](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1144/): Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-3152](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3152/): Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (medium 6.7)
- [CVE-2020-3151](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3151/): Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Restricted Shell Escape Vulnerability (medium 5.1)
- [CVE-2021-1143](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1143/): Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences User Enumeration Vulnerability (medium 4.3)
- [CVE-2019-1645](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1645/): Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Information Disclosure Vulnerability (medium 4.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-1522 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-1522 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences, published on 4 Aug 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-2021-1522 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences. 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-2021-1522/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1522/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-1522
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-1522
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-1522

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1522/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.