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Email Security ApplianceApplication · Cisco

CVE-2016-1480

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-10-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A vulnerability in the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) scanner of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliances (ESA) and Web Security Appliances (WSA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass configured user filters on the device. Affected Products: all releases prior to the first fixed release of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco ESA and Cisco WSA, both virtual and hardware appliances, if the software is configured with message or content filters to scan incoming email attachments. More Information: CSCuw03606, CSCux59734. Known Affected Releases: 8.0.0-000 8.5.6-106 9.0.0-000 9.1.0-032 9.6.0-042 9.5.0-444 WSA10.0.0-000. Known Fixed Releases: 9.1.1-038 9.7.1-066.

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

A vulnerability in the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) scanner of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Email Security Appliances (ESA) and Web Security Appliances (WSA) allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to bypass configured message or content filters that scan incoming email attachments. This means malicious attachments can pass through the device without being filtered or blocked.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco AsyncOS Software to fixed release 9.1.1-038, 9.7.1-066, or later. If immediate patching is not possible, implement additional email security controls downstream or consider disabling attachment scanning as a temporary workaround (not recommended).

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
Email Security ApplianceApplication
Affected:= 8.0.1-023= 8.0_base= 8.5.0-000= 8.5.0-er1-198= 8.5.6-052= 8.5.6-073= 8.5.6-074= 8.5.6-106= 8.5.6-113= 8.5.7-042= 8.6.0= 8.6.0-011

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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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. Identify the appliance model
    Log into the Cisco appliance web interface or CLI and confirm the device model. Look for 'Cisco Email Security Appliance' or 'Cisco Web Security Appliance' in the system overview.
    Affected if The device is a Cisco ESA or WSA model.
  2. Check the AsyncOS version
    In the CLI, run the 'version' command or in the web interface, go to System Administration > Software Updates to view the installed AsyncOS version and build number.
    Affected if The installed version matches or falls within the affected builds: 8.0.1-023, 8.0_base, 8.5.0-000, 8.5.0-er1-198, 8.5.6-052, 8.5.6-073, 8.5.6-074, 8.5.6-106, 8.5.6-113, 8.5.7-042, 8.6.0, or 8.6.0-011.
  3. Verify attachment scanning filters are enabled
    In the ESA web interface, go to Mail Policies > Incoming Mail Policies and check if attachment scanning (such as File Reputation, File Analysis, or Attachment Filtering) is enabled. In the CLI, use 'filters' or 'scanconfig' commands to review active content filters.
    Affected if Message or content filters that scan email attachments are configured and active on the device.
  4. Review filter bypass conditions
    Test with a sample MIME-encoded attachment that contains a specific content type that may not be properly scanned. Alternatively, review mail logs for instances where attachments were not blocked despite filter policies being active.
    Affected if Attachments are passing through without being scanned or blocked when attachment filters are configured.

A user is affected if they are running an affected AsyncOS version (8.0.x or 8.5.x through 8.6.0-011) on a Cisco ESA or WSA and have attachment scanning filters enabled, allowing malicious attachments to bypass filtering.

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 AsyncOS Software to fixed release 9.1.1-038, 9.7.1-066, or later. If immediate patching is not possible, implement additional email security controls downstream or consider disabling attachment scanning as a temporary workaround (not recommended).

Fix this in Email Security Appliance Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2016-1480 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