Unified Computing SystemHardware / appliance · Cisco
CVE-2012-4111
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 create certreq command in the fabric-interconnect component in Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) allows local users to gain privileges by embedding commands in an unspecified parameter, aka Bug ID CSCtq86563.
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 confidenceThe create certreq command in Cisco UCS fabric-interconnect component allows local authenticated users to gain elevated privileges by embedding shell commands in an unspecified parameter. This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability where the command fails to properly sanitize input before execution.
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
Unified Computing SystemHardware / appliance
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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Identify Cisco UCS fabric-interconnect in your environmentRun 'show version' or 'show inventory' on the fabric-interconnect CLI to confirm the device model and firmware versionAffected if The device is a Cisco UCS fabric-interconnect (such as 6248, 6296, 6324, or 65xx series)
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Verify local user accounts exist on the fabric-interconnectRun 'show local-user' or 'show user-account' in the fabric-interconnect CLI to list all locally configured usersAffected if Local authenticated users are configured on the fabric-interconnect
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Check current user privilege levelRun 'whoami' or check your current session's privilege role using 'show privilege' or by examining your logged-in user contextAffected if Your current user has any privilege level on the fabric-interconnect (this is the user who could potentially exploit the vulnerability)
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Confirm CLI access methodDetermine if you access the fabric-interconnect via direct console, SSH, or IPMI. Check if the 'create certreq' command is available in your command set by running 'create certreq ?' or 'help create certreq'Affected if You have command-line access to the fabric-interconnect and the create certreq command is exposed
You are affected if you operate a Cisco UCS fabric-interconnect with any local authenticated user accounts who have CLI access, since all versions contain the unsanitized create certreq command vulnerability.
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 patch/firmware update for CSCtq86563. Restrict local access to the fabric-interconnect management interface and ensure only authorized administrators have command-line access.
Fix this in Unified Computing System
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-4111 — 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-2012-4111 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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- 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
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