Nx OsOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2012-4075
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 · uneditedCisco NX-OS allows local users to gain privileges and execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in unspecified command parameters, aka Bug IDs CSCtf19827 and CSCtf27788.
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 NX-OS contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability where authenticated local users can inject arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in unspecified command parameters. The vulnerability allows an unprivileged local user to gain elevated privileges and execute commands with elevated permissions.
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
Nx OsOperating system
all versionsCVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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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Confirm Cisco NX-OS is runningRun 'show version' or 'show inventory' to identify the system and verify it is Cisco NX-OSAffected if The device is running any version of Cisco NX-OS
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Identify local user accountsRun 'show users' or 'show accounting' to list locally configured accounts on the NX-OS deviceAffected if Local user accounts exist on the system (authenticated local users are the attack vector)
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Review command history for suspicious activityCheck 'show logging logfile' or review the system log buffer for unusual commands containing shell metacharacters (such as ;, |, &, $(), backticks) in parametersAffected if Logs contain commands with shell metacharacters injected into parameters, or unexpected commands executed by low-privilege users
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Check for unauthorized privilege escalationRun 'show privilege' or review authentication logs to see if any user has unexpectedly obtained elevated (15) privilegesAffected if Users without expected administrative privileges now hold level 15 privileges, or privilege history shows unexplained privilege mode changes
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Audit account privilege assignmentsRun 'show role' or 'show user-account' to review the role and privilege level assigned to each local userAffected if There are local users with elevated privileges that were not intentionally configured, or users have unexpectedly been assigned higher privilege levels
A user is affected if they are running Cisco NX-OS with local user accounts and evidence exists of command injection via shell metacharacters or unexpected privilege escalation to administrative levels.
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 dataApply the relevant Cisco patches for Bug IDs CSCtf19827 and CSCtf27788. Until patches are applied, limit local console access to trusted administrators only and monitor for suspicious command activity.
Fix this in Nx Os
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,504.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-4075 — 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-2012-4075 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data