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Content Security Management ApplianceApplication · Cisco

CVE-2017-6661

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-06-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 web-based management interface of Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against a user of the web-based management interface of an affected device, aka Message Tracking XSS. More Information: CSCvd30805 CSCvd34861. Known Affected Releases: 10.0.0-203 10.1.0-049.

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 stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in the web-based management interface of Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA). An unauthenticated, remote attacker can inject malicious scripts through the Message Tracking feature. When administrators access the message tracking interface, the injected scripts execute in their browsers, potentially allowing session hijacking or credential theft.

MitigationApply the relevant Cisco security patch for affected releases (10.0.0-203, 10.1.0-049) or upgrade to a patched release. As a temporary mitigation, restrict access to the web-based management interface to trusted networks only.

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
Content Security Management ApplianceApplication
Affected:= 10.0.0-203= 10.1.0-049
Email Security ApplianceApplication
Affected:= 10.0.0-203= 10.1.0-049

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/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 product and version
    Log into the appliance CLI and run the command 'version' or 'show version' to display the installed software version
    Affected if The displayed version matches 10.0.0-203 or 10.1.0-049 exactly
  2. Verify the web-based management interface is active
    Check if the web interface is enabled by accessing the appliance GUI or running 'show interface' in the CLI to confirm HTTP/HTTPS services are listening
    Affected if The web-based management interface is accessible and running
  3. Confirm Message Tracking feature is enabled
    In the web GUI, navigate to the Message Tracking section or check the feature status via CLI with 'messagetracking' related commands if available
    Affected if Message Tracking feature is enabled and accessible to administrators
  4. Inspect Message Tracking for injected scripts
    Review the Message Tracking logs or search interface for any unusual script tags, javascript: URIs, or encoded payloads in sender, recipient, or subject fields
    Affected if Suspicious script content appears in message tracking records that were not legitimately submitted

A user is affected if they run Cisco ESA or SMA version 10.0.0-203 or 10.1.0-049, have the web management interface enabled, and the Message Tracking feature contains injected malicious script payloads.

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

Apply the relevant Cisco security patch for affected releases (10.0.0-203, 10.1.0-049) or upgrade to a patched release. As a temporary mitigation, restrict access to the web-based management interface to trusted networks only.

Fix this in Content Security Management Appliance Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2017-6661 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