Ios XeOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2015-6383
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 · uneditedCisco IOS XE 15.4(3)S on ASR 1000 devices improperly loads software packages, which allows local users to bypass license restrictions and obtain certain root privileges by using the CLI to enter crafted filenames, aka Bug ID CSCuv93130.
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 confidenceThis vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE 15.4(3)S on ASR 1000 devices allows local authenticated users to bypass license restrictions and escalate to root privileges by entering crafted filenames through the CLI. The improper software package loading mechanism fails to validate input properly, enabling privilege escalation.
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
Ios XeOperating system
= 15.4\(3\)sCVSS 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
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/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 device modelRun 'show version' or 'show inventory' command and look for 'ASR 1000' or 'ASR-1000' in the outputAffected if The device is an ASR 1000 series router
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Check the IOS XE versionRun 'show version' and locate the version number in the output. Look for 'Version 15.4(3)S' specificallyAffected if The IOS XE version is exactly 15.4(3)S
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Verify CLI access exposureReview who has local authenticated access to the device CLI. Check user accounts with 'show users' and review access control lists that permit CLI loginAffected if Non-administrative or untrusted users have CLI login capability
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Audit for unauthorized root-level accountsRun 'show running-config | include username' and check for any unexpected administrator-level accounts beyond your known adminsAffected if Unexpected usernames with privilege 15 exist in the configuration
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Review recent system logs for privilege escalation indicatorsCheck system logs or run 'show log' looking for successful logins followed by privilege escalation attempts or unusual command executionAffected if Logs show unexpected privilege 15 sessions or commands indicative of escalation
You are affected if the device is an ASR 1000 running IOS XE version 15.4(3)S and non-administrative users have CLI access.
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 dataUpgrade to a fixed version of Cisco IOS XE beyond 15.4(3)S. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, restrict CLI access to trusted personnel only and monitor for unauthorized root access attempts.
Fix this in Ios Xe
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-6383 — 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-2015-6383 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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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.
- 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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