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Universal Small Cell FirmwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2016-1321

MEDIUM · 5.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-02-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Cisco Universal Small Cell devices with firmware R2.12 through R3.5 contain an image-decryption key in flash memory, which allows remote attackers to bypass a certain certificate-validation feature and obtain sensitive firmware-image and IP address data via a request to an unspecified Cisco server, aka Bug ID CSCut98082.

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

Cisco Universal Small Cell devices with firmware R2.12 through R3.5 store an image-decryption key in flash memory. This allows remote attackers to bypass certificate-validation functionality and retrieve sensitive firmware-image data and associated IP addresses by making requests to an unspecified Cisco server.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco Universal Small Cell firmware to a version beyond R3.5. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict network access to the update server and implement monitoring for anomalous firmware-fetch requests.

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
Universal Small Cell FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= r2.12_base= r2.13_base= r2.14_base= r2.15_base= r2.16_base= r2.17_base= r3.2_base= r3.3_base= r3.4_1.1= r3.4_2.1= r3.4_2.17= r3.4_base

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N

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. Confirm device model
    Identify the device as a Cisco Universal Small Cell by checking the device model identifier or system information on the device management interface
    Affected if The device is not a Cisco Universal Small Cell model, then this CVE does not apply
  2. Check firmware version
    Access the device firmware version through the management interface or CLI command that displays the current base firmware build (for example: show version or system information page)
    Affected if The installed firmware version matches one of these: r2.12_base, r2.13_base, r2.14_base, r2.15_base, r2.16_base, r2.17_base, r3.2_base, r3.3_base, r3.4_1.1, r3.4_2.1, r3.4_2.17, or r3.4_base
  3. Verify key storage configuration
    Inspect flash memory or device configuration for the presence of an embedded image-decryption key used for firmware image retrieval from Cisco update servers
    Affected if A firmware-image decryption key is stored in flash memory on the device, which is the vulnerable condition present in all affected firmware versions
  4. Assess network exposure
    Review firewall rules, ACLs, or network segmentation to determine if the device can initiate outbound connections to the Cisco firmware update server infrastructure
    Affected if The device has unrestricted outbound access to the internet or Cisco update servers, enabling the attack vector described in the CVE

The environment is affected if the device is a Cisco Universal Small Cell running any firmware version from r2.12_base through r3.4_base inclusive, with the decryption key present in flash memory and network access available to reach the Cisco update server.

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

Upgrade Cisco Universal Small Cell firmware to a version beyond R3.5. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict network access to the update server and implement monitoring for anomalous firmware-fetch requests.

Fix this in Universal Small Cell Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,120
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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-2016-1321 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