Is CVE-2021-1442 being actively exploited?

CVE-2021-1442 is not currently listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-1442?

CVE-2021-1442 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH).

CVE-2021-1442

HIGH · CVSS 7.8EPSS 0.2%EU EUVD

A vulnerability in a diagnostic command for the Plug-and-Play (PnP) subsystem of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to the level of an Administrator user (level 15) on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient protection of sensitive information. An attacker with low privileges could exploit this vulnerability by issuing the diagnostic CLI show pnp profile when a specific PnP listener is enabled on the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain a privileged authentication token. This token can be used to send crafted PnP messages and execute privileged commands on the targeted system.

Key facts

CVSS score: 7.8 (v3.1)
Severity: HIGH
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE): CWE-532
EPSS score: 0.2% (15th percentile)
In CISA KEV: No
In EU EUVD: Yes (EUVD-2021-6909)
Published: March 24, 2021
NVD last modified: June 17, 2026
Status: Modified

EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD)

This vulnerability is also tracked by ENISA as EUVD-2021-6909 in the EU Vulnerability Database. Last updated in EUVD on November 8, 2024.

View on the EU Vulnerability Database

Affected products

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and 174 more…

Certified products that may be affected

3 FIPS 140 or Common Criteria certified products, from automated matching by sec-certs.org.

Cisco Catalyst 3K/4K Wired Access Switches running IOS-XE 3.8.0E - Cisco Systems, Inc. - Common Criteria CCEVS-VR-VID-10688-2016 - archived
Cisco Aggregation Services Router (ASR) 1000 Series, IOS XE 3.13 - Cisco Systems, Inc. - Common Criteria CCEVS-VR-VID-10609-2015 - archived
Cisco Integrated Services Routers Series (ISR-4400), IOS XE 3.10.2tS - Cisco Systems, Inc. - Common Criteria CCEVS-VR-VID-10553-2014 - archived

References

https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ios-xe-pnp-priv-esc-AmG3kuVL(Vendor Advisory)

Last updated September 17, 2026 · Source: NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org EPSS

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