Security AgentApplication · Cisco
CVE-2004-1112
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe buffer overflow trigger in Cisco Security Agent (CSA) before 4.0.3 build 728 waits five minutes for a user response before terminating the process, which could allow remote attackers to bypass the buffer overflow protection by sending additional buffer overflow attacks within the five minute timeout period.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceCisco Security Agent (CSA) has a timing-based bypass in its buffer overflow protection mechanism. When a buffer overflow is detected, CSA waits five minutes for user response before terminating the process. Attackers can exploit this five-minute window by sending additional buffer overflow attacks, effectively bypassing the protection entirely.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Security AgentApplication
= 3= 4.0= 4.0.1= 4.0.2= 4.0.3= 3.xCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if Cisco Security Agent is installedCheck for the CSA service or executable: on Windows, look for the 'Cisco Security Agent' service in Services or check for csagent.exe in Program Files; on Unix, check for /opt/CSAgent or similar pathsAffected if The service or executable is present and the version falls within 3.x, 4.0.x (before build 728)
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Determine the installed version of Cisco Security AgentRun 'csacontrol -v' or 'csagent -v' from command line, or check the Windows registry under HKLM\Software\Cisco Systems\Cisco Security Agent for the Version keyAffected if Version is 3.x, 4.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, or 4.0.3 (before build 728)
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Identify if Okena Stormwatch is installedCheck for the StormWatch service or check for stormwatch-related files in Program Files or /Library/Application SupportAffected if Okena Stormwatch version 3.x is present
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Confirm buffer overflow protection is activeCheck the CSA or StormWatch configuration for the buffer overflow protection module; this may be visible in the management console or via 'csacontrol -i' to list active protectionsAffected if Buffer overflow protection is enabled and the version is vulnerable as shown in step 2
A system is affected if either Cisco Security Agent (versions 3.x, 4.0.x before build 728) or Okena Stormwatch 3.x is installed with buffer overflow protection enabled.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade Cisco Security Agent to version 4.0.3 build 728 or later, which addresses the five-minute timeout vulnerability in the buffer overflow protection.
Fix this in Security Agent
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,616.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2004-1112 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2004-1112 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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