Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2021-1280


A vulnerability in the loading mechanism of specific DLLs of Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) for Endpoints for Windows and Immunet for Windows could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform a DLL hijacking attack. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need valid credentials on the Windows system. This vulnerability is due to incorrect handling of directory search paths at run time. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by placing a malicious DLL file on the targeted system. This file will execute when the vulnerable application launches. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the targeted system with SYSTEM privileges.


Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 2 products from cisco, from cisco organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2021, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.


Published

2021-01-20T20:15:16.330

Last Modified

2024-11-21T05:43:59.720

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 7.8 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

  • Access Vector: LOCAL
  • Access Complexity: MEDIUM
  • Authentication: NONE
  • Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
  • Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
  • Availability Impact: COMPLETE
Exploitability Score

3.4

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses
  • Type: Secondary
    CWE-427

Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Application cisco advanced_malware_protection_for_endpoints < 7.3.3 Yes
Application cisco immunet < 7.3.12 Yes

References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For cisco's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.