• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

My TechDecisions

  • Best of Tech Decisions
  • Topics
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Mobility
    • Unified Communications
    • IT Infrastructure
    • Network Security
    • Physical Security
    • Facility
    • Compliance
  • RFP Resources
  • Resources
  • Podcasts
  • Project of the Week
  • About Us
    SEARCH
Compliance, IT Infrastructure, Network Security, News

Make Sure These 15 Most Exploited Vulnerabilities From 2021 Are Patched

IT pros should be familiar with some of these 15 most exploited 2021 bugs, but continued targeting of them suggests more organizations need to patch.

April 28, 2022 Zachary Comeau Leave a Comment

Log4j, Older Vulnerabilities, CISA KEV
stock.adobe.com/Andreas Prott
Photos & Slideshow
View the slideshow View the slideshow
View Slideshow

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), along with a coalition of U.S. and foreign security and law enforcement agencies, have released a list of the 15 most exploited vulnerabilities from 2021, calling on both public and private organizations to ensure these critical security bugs are mitigated and systems patched.

The list, published in a joint cybersecurity advisory between U.S., UK, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand agencies, includes many vulnerabilities IT professionals should already be familiar with, including Log4Shell, ProxyShell, ProxyLogon, ZeroLogon and other unnamed vulnerabilities impacting common IT products.

According to the advisory, agencies observed malicious actors routinely exploiting these vulnerabilities in 2021, and several of them were also routinely exploited in 2020, suggesting that the continued exploitation indicates that many organizations are still behind when it comes to patching software to protect against security vulnerabilities.

In fact, four of the top 15 most exploited vulnerabilities are at least two years old, including one each from 2019 and 2018.

Other bugs noted that didn’t make the top 15 include several from 2020 and prior, such as a pair of 2017 Microsoft Office remote code execution bugs and a remote arbitrary code execution bug in Cisco IOS and IOS XE. Others from 2021 include the Windows Print Spooler remote code execution bug known as PrintNightmare and flaws impacting products from VMWare, SonicWall, Accellion, Pulse Secure and others.

The advisory of the most exploited vulnerabilities from last year urges organizations to:

  • Update their systems as soon as possible or implement vendor-approved workarounds.
  • Use a centralized patch management system.
  • Replace end-of-life software that is no longer supported by the vendor.
  • Outsourcing patching and scanning to a cloud service provider or managed service provider in the case of limited IT manpower.
  • Harden IT environments by introducing multi-factor authentication, regularly review privileged accounts, implement a policy of least privilege, configure networks securely, segment networks, monitor for malicious activity and more.

To learn about the 15 bugs listed, click “View slideshow” at the top left just above the main image, or here.

For more information on known exploited vulnerabilities, view CISA’s catalog of (as of April 28) more than 650 bugs that are being actively exploited.

If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our digital newsletters!

Tagged With: Atlassian, CISA, Fortinet, Log4j, Microsoft, Microsoft Exchange, VMWare, Vulnerabilities

Related Content:

  • Cloud, SASE, Aryaka How the Cloud is Redefining Media Production and…
  • Singlewire Software mass notification interview Singlewire Software on Mass Notification Solutions
  • URI catchbox 1 Catchbox Plus: The Mic Solution That Finally Gave…
  • Engaging virtual meeting with diverse participants discussing creative ideas in a bright office space during daylight hours Diversified Survey: Workplace AV Tech is Falling Short,…

Free downloadable guide you may like:

  • Practical Design Guide for Office SpacesPractical Design Guide for Office Spaces

    Recent Gartner research shows that workers prefer to return to the office for in-person meetings for relevant milestones, as well as for face-to-face time with co-workers. When designing the office spaces — and meeting spaces in particular — enabling that connection between co-workers is crucial. But introducing the right collaboration technology in meeting spaces can […]

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Downloads

Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces
Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces

Recent Gartner research shows that workers prefer to return to the office for in-person meetings for relevant milestones, as well as for face-to-fa...

New Camera Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow
New Camera System Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow

Sony's HXC-FZ90 studio camera system combines flexibility and exceptional image quality with entry-level pricing.

Creating Great User Experience and Ultimate Flexibility with Clickshare

Working and collaborating in any office environment today should be meaningful, as workers today go to office for very specific reasons. When desig...

View All Downloads

Would you like your latest project featured on TechDecisions as Project of the Week?

Apply Today!

More from Our Sister Publications

Get the latest news about AV integrators and Security installers from our sister publications:

Commercial IntegratorSecurity Sales

AV-iQ

Footer

TechDecisions

  • Home
  • Welcome to TechDecisions
  • Contact Us
  • Comment Guidelines
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin

Free Technology Guides

FREE Downloadable resources from TechDecisions provide timely insight into the issues that IT, A/V, and Security end-users, managers, and decision makers are facing in commercial, corporate, education, institutional, and other vertical markets

View all Guides
TD Project of the Week

Get your latest project featured on TechDecisions Project of the Week. Submit your work once and it will be eligible for all upcoming weeks.

Enter Today!
Emerald Logo
ABOUTCAREERSAUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERSYour Privacy ChoicesTERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY

© 2025 Emerald X, LLC. All rights reserved.