Nx OsOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2012-4077
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 the sed e option, aka Bug IDs CSCtf25457 and CSCtf27651.
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 · high confidenceLocal privilege escalation vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS allows authenticated local users to execute arbitrary commands via the sed command's 'e' option, which permits shell command execution. This enables unprivileged users to potentially gain elevated privileges on the affected system.
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
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/Au:S/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 module' to identify the operating system and versionAffected if The system is running any version of Cisco NX-OS (all versions are affected)
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Identify local user accountsRun 'show user account' or review the local user database via 'show running-config | include username'Affected if Any non-admin local user accounts exist with console access
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Check for sed 'e' option usage in command history or logsReview system logs, bash history files, or accounting logs for commands containing 'sed -e' or 'sed ... e' patterns that could indicate shell command injectionAffected if Suspicious sed commands with the 'e' option are found in logs or history
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Verify privilege escalation attemptsRun 'show logging log' or review authpriv logs for failed privilege escalation attempts, especially involving sed or shell escapesAffected if Logs show unauthorized privilege escalation attempts or unexpected command executions
A system is affected if it runs Cisco NX-OS of any version and has any local user accounts (other than trusted administrators) with console access.
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 NX-OS patch (referenced by Bug IDs CSCtf25457 and CSCtf27651) or upgrade to a fixed version. Until patched, limit local console access to trusted only and monitor for suspicious sed command usage.
Fix this in Nx Os
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-4077 — 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-2012-4077 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