Unified Communications ManagerApplication · Cisco
CVE-2013-3403
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 · uneditedMultiple untrusted search path vulnerabilities in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) 7.1(x) through 9.1(1a) allow local users to gain privileges by leveraging unspecified file-permission and environment-variable issues for privileged programs, aka Bug ID CSCuh73454.
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 confidenceUntrusted search path vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) versions 7.1(x) through 9.1(1a) allows local privilege escalation via improper file permissions and environment variable handling in privileged programs. Attackers can manipulate search paths to execute malicious code with elevated privileges.
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 Communications ManagerApplication
= 7.1\(2a\)= 7.1\(2a\)su1= 7.1\(2b\)= 7.1\(2b\)su1= 7.1\(3\)= 7.1\(3a\)= 7.1\(3a\)su1= 7.1\(3a\)su1a= 7.1\(3b\)= 7.1\(3b\)su1= 7.1\(3b\)su2= 7.1\(5\)CVSS 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 CUCM versionAccess the CUCM administration interface and navigate to About > Version, or run 'show version' command via CLI if you have administrative accessAffected if The installed version falls within 7.1(x) through 9.1(1a) inclusive
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Verify system directory permissionsInspect file permissions on system directories such as /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin, /opt, and Cisco-specific bin directories. Use 'ls -la' commands to check for world-writable permissionsAffected if Any system directories or binaries used by privileged programs are world-writable or group-writable
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Review PATH variable handlingCheck the PATH environment variable for the root or service account running CUCM processes. Look for entries that allow unprivileged modification (such as '.' or writable directories before system paths)Affected if The PATH includes writable directories that unprivileged users can modify
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Check for suspicious binaries in search pathsExamine system directories in the PATH for unexpected or newly created binaries, particularly in directories with weak permissions. Use file integrity checking if availableAffected if Unexpected binaries exist in directories that privileged CUCM processes search
You are affected if CUCM version is between 7.1(x) and 9.1(1a) AND any system directories used by privileged programs have weak permissions that allow unprivileged modification
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 Cisco security patches for Bug ID CSCuh73454 or upgrade CUCM to a version beyond 9.1(1a). Review and restrict file permissions on system directories to prevent unprivileged user modification.
Fix this in Unified Communications Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-3403 — 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-2013-3403 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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