dbcve.org
Telepresence Video Communication ServerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2016-1444

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-07-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
74/100
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
The Mobile and Remote Access (MRA) component in Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) X8.1 through X8.7 and Expressway X8.1 through X8.6 mishandles certificates, which allows remote attackers to bypass authentication via an arbitrary trusted certificate, aka Bug ID CSCuz64601.

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 confidence

The Mobile and Remote Access (MRA) component in Cisco TelePresence VCS X8.1-X8.7 and Expressway X8.1-X8.6 improperly validates certificates, allowing remote attackers to bypass authentication by presenting an arbitrary certificate that the system trusts. This certificate validation flaw in the MRA pathway enables unauthenticated access to video conferencing resources.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco VCS and Expressway to the latest version beyond X8.7 and X8.6 respectively, or apply vendor-supplied patches for this certificate handling vulnerability in the MRA component.

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 ServerApplication
Affected:= x8.1= x8.1.1= x8.1.2= x8.2= x8.2.1= x8.2.2= x8.5= x8.5.0= x8.5.1= x8.5.2= x8.5.3= x8.6.0
Telepresence Video Communication Server SoftwareApplication
Affected:= x8.5.1= x8.5.2= x8.5.3= x8.6

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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. Identify the installed product and version
    Log into the Cisco TelePresence VCS or Expressway admin interface and navigate to the Dashboard or System Information page to view the exact software version. Alternatively, use the CLI command 'xStatus' or 'show version' to retrieve the version number.
    Affected if The version is Cisco TelePresence VCS X8.1 through X8.7 or Expressway X8.1 through X8.6, specifically versions x8.1, x8.1.1, x8.1.2, x8.2, x8.2.1, x8.2.2, x8.5, x8.5.0, x8.5.1, x8.5.2, x8.5.3, x8.6.0, x8.6, or x8.7.
  2. Confirm Mobile and Remote Access (MRA) is enabled
    In the VCS or Expressway admin interface, navigate to Configuration > Protocols > SIP or Configuration > Traversal Zones to verify if MRA traversal zones are configured and enabled. Check under Applications > MRA or the equivalent section for MRA status.
    Affected if MRA is actively configured and enabled on the system, as the vulnerability exists specifically within the MRA pathway.
  3. Inspect certificate validation settings for MRA
    Review the certificate validation settings under Configuration > Security > Certificates or the MRA-specific certificate trust settings. Look for configurations that accept or trust certificates without proper chain validation.
    Affected if The system is configured to trust certificates presented through the MRA interface without full certificate chain validation or proper CA verification.

You are affected if your Cisco TelePresence VCS or Expressway version falls within X8.1-X8.7 (VCS) or X8.1-X8.6 (Expressway) and Mobile and Remote Access is enabled with certificate validation disabled or improperly configured for MRA connections.

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 VCS and Expressway to the latest version beyond X8.7 and X8.6 respectively, or apply vendor-supplied patches for this certificate handling vulnerability in the MRA component.

Fix this in Telepresence Video Communication Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,544.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-1444 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2016-1444 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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