CVE-2021-1391

Root privilege escalation via residual debugger scripts

Published Mar 24, 2021 · Updated Nov 8, 2024

Privilege escalation in the dragonite debugger in Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software allows local users at privilege level 15 to gain root access. Residual development testing and verification scripts on affected devices bypass the debugger's consent-token mechanism. Privilege level 15 access on a listed industrial or embedded switch platform is required, and successful exploitation grants root control without reported availability impact.

CVSS severity5.1
Medium
EPSS probability0.31%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in the dragonite debugger in Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software allows local users at privilege level 15 to gain root access. Residual development testing and verification scripts on affected devices bypass the debugger's consent-token mechanism. Privilege level 15 access on a listed industrial or embedded switch platform is required, and successful exploitation grants root control without reported availability impact.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-1391
Published
Mar 24, 2021
Updated
Nov 8, 2024
Vendor
ClamAV
Product
Cisco IOS
Classifications
CWE-489, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 24, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Nov 8, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=n/a

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

ClamAV · Cisco IOSversion=n/a

Published CVSS scores

6.7NIST National Vulnerability DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
5.1Cisco Systems, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N/E:X/RL:X/RC:X

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-489Active Debug Code
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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