Unity ConnectionApplication · Cisco
CVE-2018-0203
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 SMTP relay of Cisco Unity Connection could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to send unsolicited email messages, aka a Mail Relay Vulnerability. The vulnerability is due to improper handling of domain information in the affected software. An unauthenticated, remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted requests to the targeted application. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to send email messages to arbitrary addresses. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvg62215.
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 SMTP relay in Cisco Unity Connection has improper handling of domain information, allowing an unauthenticated remote attacker to send crafted requests that exploit the relay to deliver email to arbitrary addresses. This is an open relay vulnerability that enables spam or phishing emails to be sent through the compromised system.
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
Unity ConnectionApplication
all versionsCVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify SMTP relay service statusAccess Cisco Unity Connection administration interface and navigate to SMTP Relay configuration (System > SMTP). Check if the SMTP relay service is enabled and running.Affected if SMTP relay is enabled and accessible to unauthenticated users
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Check relay access controlsIn the SMTP relay configuration, inspect the 'Allow relay from' or 'Trusted hosts' settings. Determine if the relay accepts connections from any host (0.0.0.0/0 or unrestricted) or is limited to specific IP ranges.Affected if Relay accepts connections from any IP address or unauthenticated sources
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Verify authentication requirementsIn SMTP relay settings, check if 'Require authentication' is enabled. Look for options controlling anonymous relay access.Affected if Authentication is not required for SMTP relay (anonymous relay allowed)
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Confirm relay destination restrictionsExamine if there are restrictions on destination email domains the relay will accept. Check if relay will forward to any destination address or only to internal/authorized domains.Affected if Relay forwards emails to arbitrary external domains without restriction
If the SMTP relay on Cisco Unity Connection is accessible without authentication and accepts connections from any source to forward to arbitrary destinations, the system is vulnerable to CVE-2018-0203.
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 dataApply the Cisco patch for CSCvg62215, or if no patch is available, restrict SMTP relay to authorized IPs/domains and enable required authentication to prevent unauthenticated relay.
Fix this in Unity Connection
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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 locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-0203 — 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-2018-0203 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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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.
- 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