Threats / Hikvision / CVE-2021-36260
CVE-2021-36260
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Hikvision Security cameras web server vulnerability
Command injection vulnerability in Hikvision security camera web servers due to insufficient input validation. Allows remote code execution on affected devices.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A command injection flaw (CWE-78) in Hikvision camera web interfaces enables unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary system commands. Active exploitation in the wild poses immediate risk to deployed camera infrastructure.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-01-104EPSS 0.99869 (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
925 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 2022-01-10).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.99869 — 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: Hikvision, Security cameras web server. 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-78 OS Command Injection — weakness family: Injection.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 110 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 functional/weaponized public exploit). Catalog entries: Metasploit module, 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 malicious input containing shell metacharacters to bypass validation and inject OS commands into the web server process.
Business
Attackers gain direct code execution on security cameras, enabling reconnaissance, lateral network movement, or device compromise at scale.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I execute commands to establish persistence, exfiltrate video feeds, or pivot to connected network segments from the compromised camera.
Business
Physical security infrastructure is compromised; surveillance data is stolen and cameras become entry points for broader network intrusion.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I deploy malware or use the camera as a botnet node for distributed attacks while remaining hidden within trusted security hardware.
Business
Organization's security posture is inverted; trusted devices become attack vectors, increasing liability and incident response complexity.
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