CVE-2016-1291
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 Prime Infrastructure 1.2.0 through 2.2(2) and Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM) 1.2 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted deserialized data in an HTTP POST request, aka Bug ID CSCuw03192.
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 is a Java deserialization vulnerability in Cisco Prime Infrastructure and Evolved Programmable Network Manager. Attackers send crafted deserialized data in HTTP POST requests to achieve arbitrary code execution on the affected systems, leveraging insecure deserialization of user-supplied data.
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= 1.2.0= 1.2= 1.2.0.103= 1.2.1= 1.3= 1.3.0.20= 1.4= 1.4.0.45= 1.4.1= 1.4.2= 2.0= 2.1.0= 2.2= snv_124CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 installed Cisco productAccess the management web interface or CLI and identify whether Cisco Prime Infrastructure or Evolved Programmable Network Manager is deployed. Check the product name displayed in the admin console or use 'show version' in the CLI.Affected if The product is either Cisco Prime Infrastructure or Evolved Programmable Network Manager
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Determine installed versionFor Prime Infrastructure, check the version via the web admin UI under Administration > Software Updates > Installed Software, or use the CLI command 'show version'. For EPNM, check via the web UI under Settings > Software Version or use 'show version' in the CLI.Affected if The detected version matches any of: EPNM 1.2.0; Prime Infrastructure 1.2, 1.2.0.103, 1.2.1, 1.3, 1.3.0.20, 1.4, 1.4.0.45, 1.4.1, 1.4.2, 2.0, 2.1.0, or 2.2
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Verify HTTP management interface is accessibleAttempt to reach the web-based management interface over HTTP (port 8080 or 443) from a network location. Confirm the Cisco Prime Infrastructure or EPNM login page loads.Affected if The HTTP/HTTPS management interface is reachable from network segments where untrusted users could send POST requests
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Check Java deserialization endpointsReview HTTP access logs or proxy traffic for incoming POST requests to the management interface. The vulnerability is exploited via crafted serialized Java objects sent in the body of HTTP POST requests.Affected if Unexplained or suspicious serialized data patterns appear in HTTP POST traffic to the management interface
You are affected if you are running any of the listed versions of Cisco Prime Infrastructure or EPNM and your HTTP management interface is accessible to potential attackers.
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-supplied patches or upgrade to a patched version of Cisco Prime Infrastructure (2.2(3) or later) and EPNM (1.2.1 or later). If patching is immediately infeasible, restrict network access to the management interfaces to minimize exposure.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-1291 — 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-2016-1291 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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