dbcve.org
Email Security Appliance FirmwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2018-0140

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-02-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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 spam quarantine of Cisco Email Security Appliance and Cisco Content Security Management Appliance could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to download any message from the spam quarantine by modifying browser string information. The vulnerability is due to a lack of verification of authenticated user accounts. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying browser strings to see messages submitted by other users to the spam quarantine within their company. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvg39759, CSCvg42295.

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

This is an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability in the spam quarantine feature of Cisco Email Security Appliance and Cisco Content Security Management Appliance. An authenticated attacker can download arbitrary messages from the spam quarantine by modifying browser string information (likely message IDs or session tokens), because the application lacks proper verification that the authenticated user is authorized to access the specific message being requested.

MitigationApply Cisco security updates/patches addressing CSCvg39759 and CSCvg42295. Until patches are applied, restrict network access to the ESA/SMA management interfaces and monitor for unauthorized access to quarantine messages.

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 Appliance FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 9.8.0-112= 10.0.1-087= 11.0.0-274
Content Security Management ApplianceOperating system
Affected:= 10.0.0-096= 10.1.0-037= 10.1.0-052= 11.0.0-115

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 product and version
    Log into the Cisco Email Security Appliance or Content Security Management Appliance management interface and navigate to the System Administration > Software Upgrade or About page to confirm the exact firmware version installed.
    Affected if The installed version matches one of the affected version ranges: ESA firmware 9.8.0-112, 10.0.1-087, or 11.0.0-274; or SMA firmware 10.0.0-096, 10.1.0-037, 10.1.0-052, or 11.0.0-115.
  2. Verify spam quarantine is enabled
    In the ESA or SMA web interface, go to the Spam Quarantine section (typically under Mail Policies > Spam Quarantine) or the Quarantine > Spam Quarantine menu to determine if the spam quarantine feature is currently enabled for end-user or administrative access.
    Affected if The spam quarantine feature is enabled and accessible to users or administrators.
  3. Confirm management interface accessibility
    Determine if the ESA or SMA management web interface (GUI) is reachable from network segments outside the trusted internal network. Check the interface bindings in Network > IP Interfaces to see which interfaces the management GUI is bound to, or verify network access control lists.
    Affected if The management interface is accessible from untrusted networks or the internet.
  4. Review quarantine access logs
    Access the spam quarantine logs or message tracking logs through the GUI (Monitor > Message Tracking) or CLI (grep commands in the logs directory) to look for access patterns where message IDs or request parameters suggest users accessed messages outside their normal quarantine scope.
    Affected if Logs show messages were accessed by users who did not own or should not have had access to those specific messages.

You are affected if you run an ESA or SMA firmware version within the listed affected ranges AND the spam quarantine feature is enabled and accessible, regardless of whether the management interface is externally reachable.

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 Cisco security updates/patches addressing CSCvg39759 and CSCvg42295. Until patches are applied, restrict network access to the ESA/SMA management interfaces and monitor for unauthorized access to quarantine messages.

Fix this in Email Security Appliance Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2018-0140 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