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Secure Firewall Threat DefenseApplication · Cisco

CVE-2018-0453

HIGH · 8.2 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-10-05
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
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 Sourcefire tunnel control channel protocol in Cisco Firepower System Software running on Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) sensors could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute specific CLI commands with root privileges on the Cisco Firepower Management Center (FMC), or through Cisco FMC on other Firepower sensors and devices that are controlled by the same Cisco FMC. To send the commands, the attacker must have root privileges for at least one affected sensor or the Cisco FMC. The vulnerability exists because the affected software performs insufficient checks for certain CLI commands, if the commands are executed via a Sourcefire tunnel connection. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating with root privileges to a Firepower sensor or Cisco FMC, and then sending specific CLI commands to the Cisco FMC or through the Cisco FMC to another Firepower sensor via the Sourcefire tunnel connection. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to modify device configurations or delete files on the device that is running Cisco FMC Software or on any Firepower device that is managed by Cisco FMC.

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 vulnerability in the Sourcefire tunnel control channel protocol allows an authenticated attacker with root privileges on a Firepower sensor or FMC to send specific CLI commands through the tunnel connection to execute with root privileges on the FMC or propagate to other managed sensors. The insufficient validation of commands via the tunnel enables modification of device configurations or deletion of files across the Firepower deployment.

MitigationApply Cisco-provided patches for Cisco Firepower Threat Defense and Firepower Management Center to address the insufficient command validation in the Sourcefire tunnel protocol. Follow least-privilege principles for sensor access and restrict root-level CLI access.

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
Secure Firewall Threat DefenseApplication
Affected:= 5.4.0= 6.0.0= 6.0.1= 6.1.0= 6.2.0= 6.2.1= 6.2.2

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 Firepower Threat Defense installation
    Run 'show version' or check system inventory to confirm Cisco Firepower Threat Defense is installed
    Affected if The system is not running Cisco Firepower Threat Defense, then it is not affected by this specific CVE
  2. Check installed FTD version
    Execute 'show version' or access FMC dashboard to view the installed FTD version number
    Affected if The installed version matches 5.4.0, 6.0.0, 6.0.1, 6.1.0, 6.2.0, 6.2.1, or 6.2.2 exactly, indicating the environment is running an affected version
  3. Verify Sourcefire tunnel configuration
    Check for active tunnel connections between Firepower sensor and FMC via 'show tunnel' or review tunnel-related configuration files in /etc/sf/ or management interface settings
    Affected if Sourcefire tunnel control channel is actively configured or connected between sensor and FMC, enabling the attack vector
  4. Audit root-level access and sensor management
    Review user accounts with root privileges and sensor management permissions via 'show users' or FMC user management console
    Affected if Multiple root-privileged accounts exist or sensor management is accessible to users who could leverage the tunnel for command injection

If the environment runs Cisco Firepower Threat Defense matching versions 5.4.0 through 6.2.2 AND has the Sourcefire tunnel enabled with root-accessible users, the environment is likely affected by CVE-2018-0453.

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-provided patches for Cisco Firepower Threat Defense and Firepower Management Center to address the insufficient command validation in the Sourcefire tunnel protocol. Follow least-privilege principles for sensor access and restrict root-level CLI access.

Fix this in Secure Firewall Threat Defense Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
27.0 hours of engineering $4,800
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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-2018-0453 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