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Nexus 1000vHardware / appliance · Cisco

CVE-2013-5556

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-11-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.2 or later.
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
The license-installation module on the Cisco Nexus 1000V switch 4.2(1)SV1(5.2b) and earlier for VMware vSphere, Cisco Nexus 1000V switch 5.2(1)SM1(5.1) for Microsoft Hyper-V, and Cisco Virtual Security Gateway 4.2(1)VSG1(1) for Nexus 1000V switches allows local users to gain privileges and execute arbitrary commands via crafted "install all iso" arguments, aka Bug ID CSCui21340.

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 confidence

This is a command injection vulnerability in the license-installation module of Cisco Nexus 1000V switch and Cisco Virtual Security Gateway. Local attackers can inject arbitrary commands through crafted 'install all iso' arguments, achieving privilege escalation and executing commands with elevated privileges.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches for the affected versions (4.2(1)SV1(5.2b) and earlier for VMware, 5.2(1)SM1(5.1) for Hyper-V, and 4.2(1)VSG1(1) for VSG). Restrict local administrative access to the license-installation module and audit user 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
Nexus 1000vHardware / appliance
Affected:= 4.2\(1\)vsg1\(1\)= 5.2\(1\)sm1\(5.1\)<= 4.2\(1\)sv1\(5.2b\)= 4.2\(1\)_sv1\(4\)= 4.2\(1\)_sv1\(4a\)= 4.2\(1\)_sv1\(4b\)= 4.2\(1\)sv1\(5.1\)= 4.2\(1\)sv1\(5.1a\)= 4.2\(1\)sv1\(5.2\)

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 the Cisco product
    Run 'show version' or check the system prompt to confirm if the device is Cisco Nexus 1000V or Cisco Virtual Security Gateway (VSG).
    Affected if The device is a Cisco Nexus 1000V switch or Cisco Virtual Security Gateway.
  2. Determine the installed version
    Run 'show version' and look for the software version number (for Nexus 1000V, typically shown as 4.2(1)SV1(x) or 5.2(1)SM1(x); for VSG, shown as 4.2(1)VSG1(x)). Compare this version to the affected ranges: Nexus 1000V versions 4.2(1)SV1(4), 4.2(1)SV1(4a), 4.2(1)SV1(4b), 4.2(1)SV1(5.1), 4.2(1)SV1(5.1a), 4.2(1)SV1(5.2), and 4.2(1)SV1(5.2b) or earlier; VSG version 4.2(1)VSG1(1); and Hyper-V SM1 version 5.2(1)SM1(5.1).
    Affected if The installed version matches one of the listed affected versions.
  3. Verify license installation module access
    Attempt to access the license installation module via 'install all iso' command or check if the feature is exposed via CLI. Review role-based access control (RBAC) configuration using 'show role' and 'show user-account' to determine which local users can access the license installation feature.
    Affected if Local users with limited privileges can access the license-installation module without proper restrictions.
  4. Audit local user accounts and permissions
    Run 'show user-account' and 'show role' to list all configured local users and their assigned roles. Check if untrusted or low-privilege local accounts exist that could potentially invoke the 'install all iso' command.
    Affected if There are local users with permissions to execute license installation commands who should not have such access.

The environment is affected if the device runs Cisco Nexus 1000V or Virtual Security Gateway AND the installed version matches any of the affected versions listed AND local users have access to the license-installation module.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.2
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches for the affected versions (4.2(1)SV1(5.2b) and earlier for VMware, 5.2(1)SM1(5.1) for Hyper-V, and 4.2(1)VSG1(1) for VSG). Restrict local administrative access to the license-installation module and audit user permissions.

Fix this in Nexus 1000v Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2013-5556 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