Intrusion Prevention System Device ManagerApplication · Cisco
CVE-2017-3842
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the web-based management interface of the Cisco Intrusion Prevention System Device Manager (IDM) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to view sensitive information stored in certain HTML comments. More Information: CSCuh91455. Known Affected Releases: 7.2(1)V7.
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 confidenceThe vulnerability allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to view sensitive information through HTML comments in the Cisco IDM web-based management interface. This is an information disclosure issue where the interface contains sensitive data in comments that should not be exposed.
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
Intrusion Prevention System Device ManagerApplication
= 7.2\(1\)v7CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if Cisco IDM is installedCheck for the Cisco Intrusion Prevention System Device Manager web interface. This is typically accessed via HTTPS on port 443. Look for Cisco IDM login pages or check running services on management interfaces.Affected if The system is running Cisco Intrusion Prevention System Device Manager web interface.
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Determine the IDM versionAccess the IDM web interface login page and check the version information, typically visible in the page footer, about section, or by viewing the HTML source. Alternatively, check the device's firmware or software version through CLI: 'show version' or check the management interface for version details.Affected if The installed version is exactly 7.2(1)v7.
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Verify web interface accessibilityConfirm the IDM web management interface is reachable over the network from untrusted segments. Since this is an unauthenticated vulnerability, the check is whether the HTML login page is accessible without authentication.Affected if The IDM web interface is accessible without authentication from a network perspective.
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Inspect HTML comments for sensitive dataView the HTML source of the IDM login page (right-click > View Page Source or use browser developer tools). Search for HTML comments (<!-- comment -->) that may contain sensitive information such as credentials, internal IP addresses, backend system details, or administrative notes.Affected if The HTML source contains comments with sensitive information that should not be exposed to unauthenticated users.
A system is affected if it is running Cisco Intrusion Prevention System Device Manager version 7.2(1)v7 with the web management interface accessible to unauthenticated users.
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 dataRestrict network access to the IDM management interface to prevent unauthorized access. If available, apply Cisco's patched software release. Otherwise, review and remove sensitive information from HTML comments in the web interface code.
Fix this in Intrusion Prevention System Device Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-3842 — 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-2017-3842 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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