Telepresence Video Communication Server SoftwareApplication · Cisco
CVE-2015-4325
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 process-management implementation in Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) Expressway X8.5.2 allows local users to gain privileges by terminating a firestarter.py supervised process and then triggering the restart of a process by the root account, aka Bug ID CSCuv12272.
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 confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Cisco TelePresence VCS Expressway X8.5.2 where a local authenticated user can terminate a firestarter.py supervised process and then trigger its restart, which executes under the root account context, allowing privilege escalation from unprivileged local user to root.
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
Telepresence Video Communication Server SoftwareApplication
= x8.5.2CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/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 the product and versionRun 'show version' or check the system information on the Cisco TelePresence VCS Expressway device to confirm the exact software versionAffected if Version is exactly X8.5.2
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Confirm local user access existsCheck for local user accounts on the system via /etc/passwd or the VCS user databaseAffected if Local user accounts with console or SSH access exist on the device
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Verify firestarter.py process is presentLook for the firestarter.py process running on the system using 'ps aux | grep firestarter' or similar process listing commandsAffected if The firestarter.py supervised process is running under root context
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Check process supervision configurationExamine the process supervision mechanism (such as supervisord or similar) configuration that manages firestarter.pyAffected if firestarter.py is configured to run as a supervised process that can be restarted and executes as root
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Audit for process termination eventsReview system logs for attempts to terminate the firestarter.py process or look for process restarts outside normal operationsAffected if There are signs of unauthorized process termination or unexpected process restarts
The system is affected if it is Cisco TelePresence VCS Expressway version X8.5.2 and has local user accounts that could potentially terminate and restart the firestarter.py process running under root.
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 vendor patch from Cisco for this vulnerability (contact Cisco for X8.5.2 or later fixed version). Additionally, limit local console access to trusted administrators and monitor for unauthorized process termination attempts.
Fix this in Telepresence Video Communication Server Software
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-4325 — 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-2015-4325 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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