CVE-2021-1449: Cisco Aironet Access Point Software

Medium severity, CVSS 6.7. EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

A vulnerability in the boot logic of Cisco Access Points Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute unsigned code at boot time. The vulnerability is due to an improper check that is performed by the area of code that manages system startup processes. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying a specific file that is stored on the system, which would allow the attacker to bypass existing protections. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute unsigned code at boot time and bypass the software image verification check part of the secure boot process of an affected device. Note: To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need to have access to the development shell (devshell) on the device.

Affected products

• Cisco Aironet Access Point Software: affected versions not specified
• Cisco Catalyst 9800 Firmware: before 16.12.5 (fixed in 16.12.5); from 17.1, before 17.3.3 (fixed in 17.3.3); from 17.4, before 17.5.1 (fixed in 17.5.1)
• Cisco Wireless Lan Controller Software: before 8.5.171.0 (fixed in 8.5.171.0); from 8.6, before 8.10.150.0 (fixed in 8.10.150.0)

Published 2021-03-24. Last modified 2026-06-17.