Vulnerability report

Active exploitation observed Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2021-36260

IP Camera Command Injection

Hikvision / IP Camera

Watch CVE-2021-36260 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Observed in sensors
EPSS
99.9%
First observed
21 Jun 2026
Last observed
23 Oct 2026

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2021-36260 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Hikvision IP Camera. A command injection vulnerability in the web server of some Hikvision product. Due to the insufficient input validation, attacker can...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian sensors observed exploitation attempts with confirmed confidence. Listed in CISA KEV. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

Hikvision / IP Camera.

What should we do?

Patch immediately, validate internet-facing exposure, and monitor for matching requests.

Overview

A command injection vulnerability in the web server of some Hikvision product

A command injection vulnerability in the web server of some Hikvision product.

Due to the insufficient input validation, attacker can exploit the vulnerability to launch a command injection attack by sending some messages with malicious commands.

Published
22 Sep 2021
Exploitation Reported
10 Jan 2022
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

cisa nuclei_scanner metasploit

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 10 Jan 2022

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Active exploitation observed

Previdian sensor

First observed 19 Jul 2026

Previdian first observed exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability in our honeypot sensors.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 18 Oct 2021

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

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Source Added
CISA First 2022-01-10 00:00 UTC
The Shadowserver 2026-05-28 00:00 UTC
Previdian Sensors 2026-08-16 17:01 UTC
GreyNoise 2026-10-08 13:21 UTC

Operational indicators for this CVE are listed under Detection.

Sensor telemetry

First-party evidence of exploitation activity

Previdian sensors recorded exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability. The cards and chart show volume, unique attackers, and daily activity.

11,750

Attempts observed

52

Unique attacker IPs

20

Attacker countries

AE · AR · BG · BR · CH · CN · CO · DE · ES · FI · FR · IN · JP · LT · NL · RU · SG · UA · US · YE

47

Sensors observed

CVE-2021-36260 exploitation attempts over the last 87 days

Daily events observed by Previdian sensors

Updated 23 Oct 2026

0
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
6
4
0
1,103
1,368
1,793
1,811
293
1,314
1,853
1,340
800
2
3
1
4
4
2
2
2
1
0
2
0
0
2
5
2
2
1
4
2
0
1
29 Jul 16 Aug 3 Sep 21 Sep 23 Oct

First observed 21 Jun 2026 · Last observed 23 Oct 2026

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Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
1
881
9

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

Previdian virtual patch guidance is available for this CVE.

AWS WAF Cloudflare ModSecurity

Attacker IP Indicators

Attacker IP indicators observed · available in Pro and Enterprise.

Sensor-derived attacker IP indicators are available to Pro and Enterprise accounts under Detection and through the Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/http/hikvision_cve_2021_36260_blind.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-36260.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Virtual Patch Detail

Compensating WAF rules for this CVE.

Available

Enterprise feature. Virtual patch rule content and deployable vendor exports (ModSecurity, Cloudflare, AWS WAF) are available to Previdian Enterprise users.

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Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.8 Critical

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

99.9%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') CWE-78

Recent mention · GreyNoise

Spike in Attacks Targeting Digital Video Recorders in Ukraine

For months, GreyNoise recorded almost no Hikvision camera exploit attempts against Ukraine. On Sept 21 activity surged for nine days during Russian strikes, almost all from four IPs, then stopped. We can't say if the two are linked.

Read full advisory

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 9.8 Critical

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 9.3 High

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

All Mentions

Recent mention · GreyNoise

Spike in Attacks Targeting Digital Video Recorders in Ukraine

GreyNoise · 08 Oct 2026

For months, GreyNoise recorded almost no Hikvision camera exploit attempts against Ukraine. On Sept 21 activity surged for nine days during Russian strikes, almost all from four IPs, then stopped. We can't say if the two are linked.

Recent mention · SOCRadar

Operation Master: Deconstructing a Multi-Tiered Intrusion and Monetization Pipeline

SOCRadar · 24 Sep 2026

Operation Master: Deconstructing a Multi-Tiered Intrusion and Monetization Pipeline SOCRadar Threat Research Unit (STRU) has uncovered an end-to-end cybercrime operation dubbed Operation Master, in which a threat actor c

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

Cuerz/CVE-2021-36260

github · Created 2022-08-03 17:27:59 UTC · 149 stars · AI assessment 90%

海康威视RCE漏洞 批量检测和利用工具

Aiminsun/CVE-2021-36260

github · Created 2021-10-27 15:51:12 UTC · 266 stars · AI assessment 90%

command injection vulnerability in the web server of some Hikvision product. Due to the insufficient input validation, attacker can exploit the vulnerability to launch a command injection attack by sending some messages with malicious commands.

Hikvision IP camera/NVR - Remote Command Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

hikvision_cve_2021_36260_blind

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2021-36260

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 13:21 UTC

    KEV confirmed by GreyNoise

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  2. 13:00 UTC

    Virtual patch available

    Compensating WAF rule available to block exploitation

  3. 02:07 UTC

    Observed by Previdian sensors

    Evidence-backed exploitation signal

  4. 10:03 UTC

    Indicators of compromise added (55)

    Indicators of compromise recorded

  5. 00:00 UTC

    KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  6. 15:02 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  7. 00:00 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  8. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  9. 15:51 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  10. 12:07 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  11. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2021-36260

Sample API response 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2021-36260",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99869,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": true
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 11750, "sensors": 47 }
}