Threats / Dahua / CVE-2021-33045
CVE-2021-33045
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Dahua IP Camera Firmware vulnerability
Dahua IP camera firmware contains an authentication bypass vulnerability exploitable when clients specify the loopback device during authentication, allowing unauthenticated access.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
An authentication bypass in Dahua IP cameras enables attackers to circumvent credential verification by manipulating loopback device parameters. Active exploitation in the wild demonstrates immediate risk to deployed camera infrastructure.
CISA KEV Yes · 2024-08-214EPSS 0.99556 (verify live)5Exploit Weaponized · public PoC6CVSS 9.8 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Impact: total3
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreExploit available
Fully weaponized — public exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported exploitation
5 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2024-08-21).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.99556 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 9.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Dahua, IP Camera Firmware. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-287 Improper Authentication — weakness family: Authentication.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 1071 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a public proof-of-concept / detection template). Catalog entries: nuclei template. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft an authentication request specifying the loopback device to bypass credential validation.
Business
Unauthorized access to camera systems compromises physical security monitoring and enables reconnaissance of protected facilities.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I gain unauthenticated access to camera management interfaces and extract configuration or video streams.
Business
Loss of confidentiality of surveillance data and exposure of network topology creates liability and regulatory compliance violations.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I modify camera settings, disable recording, or redirect feeds to cover malicious activity.
Business
Compromised security infrastructure fails to detect or deter physical threats, increasing exposure to theft, sabotage, or other crimes.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05