CVE-2021-1523
8.6 · HIGHOverview
CVE-2021-1523 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting cisco nx-os. It was published on August 25, 2021 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.6 (HIGH).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.6, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
A vulnerability in Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Fabric Switches in Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) Mode could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a queue wedge on a leaf switch, which could result in critical control plane traffic to the device being dropped. This could result in one or more leaf switches being removed from the fabric. This vulnerability is due to mishandling of ingress TCP traffic to a specific port. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a stream of TCP packets to a specific port on a Switched Virtual Interface (SVI) configured on the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a specific packet queue to queue network buffers but never process them, leading to an eventual queue wedge. This could cause control plane traffic to be dropped, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition where the leaf switches are unavailable. Note: This vulnerability requires a manual intervention to power-cycle the device to rec
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from cisco. Update nx-os to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2021-1523?
CVE-2021-1523 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting cisco nx-os. It was published on August 25, 2021 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.6 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2021-1523?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.6, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2021-1523?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from cisco. Update nx-os to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2021-1523?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2021-1523 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
Automated penetration testing that runs continuously, not just quarterly.
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Browser-based exploitation validates findings with real proof-of-concept.
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