{"cve":"CVE-2021-40119","nvd":{"published":"2021-11-04T16:15:09.360","modified":"2026-06-17T04:06:33.430","status":"Modified","description":"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.","cvss_v4":null,"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","score":9.8},"cwes":["CWE-798","CWE-321"],"references":["https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-cps-static-key-JmS92hNv","https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-cps-static-key-JmS92hNv"],"products":["cisco:policy_suite"],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T21:24:39.218183596+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2021-40119","score":0.02497,"percentile":0.84688,"date":"2026-10-31"},"kev":null,"osv":[],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}