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CVE-2021-1368 Cisco NX-OS

Affected softwareCisco NX-OS
Severity8.8 High CVSS 3.1 3 scores
WeaknessOut-of-bounds write (CWE-787)
Published24 Feb 2021
Updated17 Jun 2026

Description

A vulnerability in the Unidirectional Link Detection (UDLD) feature of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code with administrative privileges or cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted Cisco UDLD protocol packets to a directly connected, affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code with administrative privileges or cause the Cisco UDLD process to crash and restart multiple times, causing the affected device to reload and resulting in a DoS condition. Note: The UDLD feature is disabled by default, and the conditions to exploit this vulnerability are strict. The attacker needs full control of a directly connected device. That device must be connected over a port channel that has UDLD enabled. To trigger arbitrary code execution, both the UDLD-enabled port channel and specific system conditions must exist. In the absence of either the UDLD-enabled port channel or the system conditions, attempts to exploit this vulnerability will result in a DoS condition. It is possible, but highly unlikely, that an attacker could control the necessary conditions for exploitation. The CVSS score reflects this possibility. However, given the complexity of exploitation, Cisco has assigned a Medium Security Impact Rating (SIR) to this vulnerability.

Exploitation status

No public exploit

No exploit has been reported in the sources we check. Published 5 years ago.

  • CISA KEV not listed
  • VulnCheck KEV not listed
  • CISA Vulnrichment no assessment published
  • Indexed PoC none indexed
  • EPSS 0.46% chance in 30 days

Waratek protection

Outside Waratek scope

A Java vulnerability, but not one Waratek protects. It affects only Java on a user's desktop (applets, Web Start, JavaFX, the installer), sits in a product the Waratek agent can't be installed into, or is in a package we don't expect in business applications. The decision below says which.

  • Protection none
  • Action not pursued none
  • Review human Researcher
  • Record active
Decided by Manual classification of this CVE in the legacy dataset
Finding A manual classification set this CVE's status to Outside Waratek scope, but the CVE names a tracked product.

CVSS

8.8 HIGH v3.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 3 metrics

We show the highest score from the newest CVSS version. Scores from different versions can't be compared, and the first score listed is sometimes a 0.0 placeholder.

VersionScoreBandVectorAssignerType
CVSS 3.1 8.8 HIGH CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H psirt@cisco.com Secondary published
CVSS 3.1 8.8 HIGH CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H NVD Primary
CVSS 2.0 4.9 none AV:A/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P NVD Primary

Affected software and releases

Products and versions

3 products, 10 version entries
SourceVendorProductSchemeAffected versions
nvd cisco firepower extensible operating system generic r231
nvd cisco nx-os generic 7.0\(3\)i5\(2\) · 7.0\(3\)i7\(9\) · 7.3\(8\)n1\(1\) · 7.3\(9\)n1\(0.823\) · 8.4\(3.108\) · 8.4\(3.117\) · 9.3\(5\)
nvd cisco unified computing system generic < 4.0.4 · ≥ 4.1 and < 4.1.2

References

URLTags
https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-nxos-udld-rce-xetH6w35 Vendor Advisory

Timeline

Published2021-02-24By the CVE Program.
NVD record modified2026-06-17NVD's own last-modified date for this record.