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Unified Communications ManagerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2013-3434

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-07-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
70/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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 · unedited
Untrusted search path vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) 7.1(x) through 9.1(1a) allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging unspecified file-permission and environment-variable issues for privileged programs, aka Bug ID CSCui02242.

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 confidence

Untrusted search path vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) versions 7.1(x) through 9.1(1a) allows local users to gain privileges by exploiting file-permission weaknesses and environment-variable manipulation in privileged programs, enabling arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges.

MitigationRemediate by correcting file permissions on affected binaries and directories to prevent user modification, removing world/group writable permissions, and securing environment variables used by privileged executables; alternatively, upgrade to a patched CUCM version beyond 9.1(1a).

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
Affected:= 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed CUCM version
    Log into the CUCM server via CLI and run the command 'show version' or 'utils system version' to retrieve the exact installed version number
    Affected if The installed version falls within 7.1(2a) through 9.1(1a) as listed in the affected versions
  2. Check for weak file permissions on system directories
    Use CLI commands such as 'file permissions' or 'show disk usage' to inspect directory permissions, focusing on directories that contain executables used by privileged programs
    Affected if Any system directories in the execution path have world-writable or group-writable permissions
  3. Inspect binary file permissions
    Examine the permissions on binaries and scripts invoked by privileged services using CLI inspection commands or by reviewing file attributes
    Affected if Executables invoked by privileged programs are writable by non-privileged users
  4. Review environment variable handling
    Analyze the environment variables that privileged programs inherit, particularly PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH, by examining the process execution context
    Affected if Privileged programs use environment variables that can be influenced by unprivileged users (such as writable directories in PATH)
  5. Check for user-modifiable files in privileged paths
    Survey the filesystem for files in privileged execution paths that are owned by root but modifiable by lower-privilege users
    Affected if Files in paths used by privileged executables have overly permissive ownership or write access

A user is affected if their CUCM version is between 7.1(2a) and 9.1(1a) AND the system has weak file permissions or exploitable environment variables in paths used by privileged programs.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Remediate by correcting file permissions on affected binaries and directories to prevent user modification, removing world/group writable permissions, and securing environment variables used by privileged executables; alternatively, upgrade to a patched CUCM version beyond 9.1(1a).

Fix this in Unified Communications Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $7,000
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2013-3434 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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