Cyber Resilience

CVE-2021-3122

RCE in Ncr Command Center Agent 16.3

High EPSSRCECommand Injection
Published
07 February 2021
Modified
21 November 2024
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.87 99.7th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2021-3122 is a critical-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Ncr Command Center Agent. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

CMCAgent in NCR Command Center Agent 16.3 on Aloha POS/BOH servers permits the submission of a runCommand parameter (within an XML document sent to port 8089) that enables the remote, unauthenticated execution of an arbitrary command as SYSTEM, as exploited…

more

in the wild in 2020 and/or 2021. NOTE: the vendor's position is that exploitation occurs only on devices with a certain "misconfiguration."

CWE(s)
CWE-78

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
Unauthenticated remote command execution via exposed XML interface on port 8089 directly enables exploitation of a public-facing application.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Executionconfidence: HIGH
Arbitrary command execution as SYSTEM maps to use of the Windows Command Shell.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: HIGH
Remote unauthenticated execution as SYSTEM constitutes exploitation for privilege escalation.
attack.mitre.org →
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-47294Same vendor: Ncr
CVE-2023-47031Same vendor: Ncr
CVE-2023-47298Same vendor: Ncr
CVE-2023-47297Same vendor: Ncr
CVE-2023-47032Same vendor: Ncr
CVE-2023-47295Same vendor: Ncr
CVE-2023-47029Same vendor: Ncr
CVE-2023-48978Same vendor: Ncr
CVE-2023-47022Same vendor: Ncr
CVE-2023-47030Same vendor: Ncr

Affected Assets

ncr
command center agent
16.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V15.2.5

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SC-27 Platform-independent Applications
addresses: CWE-78

Platform-independent apps typically execute inside a managed runtime or sandbox that restricts direct OS command execution, reducing the ability to exploit OS command injection.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-78

Validates inputs to block special elements that would alter OS command execution.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
detects

Security testing and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.

References