CVE-2021-40119
CRITICALEPSS 83th pctlDescription
A vulnerability in the key-based SSH authentication mechanism of Cisco Policy Suite could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to log in to an affected system as the root user. This vulnerability is due to the re-use of static SSH keys across installations. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by extracting a key from a system under their control. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to log in to an affected system as the root user.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Elevated risk: more likely to be exploited than 83% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-321 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2025-30406 | Critical | 9.0 | 94% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2016-4437 | Critical | 9.8 | 93% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2023-32169 | Critical | 9.8 | 56% | - | - |
| CVE-2023-27584 | Critical | 9.8 | 34% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2020-10884 | High | 8.8 | 25% | - | - |
| CVE-2021-4228 | Medium | 5.8 | 9.9% | - | - |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2021-40119?
Upgrade policy suite to 21.1.0 or later.
Is CVE-2021-40119 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2021-40119 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 2.4% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 83% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2021-40119?
CVE-2021-40119 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8, rated critical. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2021-40119 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for policy suite (NVD). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
Embed a live status badge for CVE-2021-40119
Markdown
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TridentStack Control continuously scans your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet for known vulnerabilities, prioritizes them by severity and active exploitation, and patches them automatically.
This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2024-11-21.