CVE-2019-10688
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 · uneditedVVX products with software versions including and prior to, UCS 5.9.2 with Better Together over Ethernet Connector (BToE) application 3.9.1, use hard-coded credentials to establish connections between the host application and the device.
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 confidencePoly VVX business IP phones running UCS 5.9.2 or earlier with the Better Together over Ethernet (BToE) Connector application 3.9.1 contain hard-coded credentials embedded in the firmware. These credentials are used for authentication between the host application and the device, allowing an attacker with knowledge of these credentials to potentially gain unauthorized access to the device or intercept/manipulate the host-device communication.
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<= 5.8.0<= 3.8.0CVSS 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
- Physical
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the device modelAccess the phone's web interface, check the admin menu under 'Device Information', or inspect the SIP banner/banner response to confirm the device is a Poly VVX business IP phoneAffected if The device is not a Poly VVX model, then it is not affected by this specific vulnerability
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Check the UCS firmware versionLog into the phone's web interface as admin, navigate to 'Device Information' or 'About' page. Alternatively, access the admin menu on the device itself under Settings > Status > Platform or similar. Extract the Unified Communications Software (UCS) version numberAffected if The installed UCS version is 5.8.0 or earlier (e.g., 5.7.x, 5.6.x, etc.)
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Check the BToE Connector application versionOn the host computer with the BToE Connector installed, open the application and check 'About' or 'Version' information. Alternatively, check the installed programs list on the Windows system or the application manifest if accessibleAffected if The Better Together over Ethernet Connector version is 3.8.0 or earlier (e.g., 3.7.x, 3.6.x, etc.)
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Verify if BToE is enabledAccess the phone's web interface and navigate to Applications > Better Together over Ethernet or similar path. Check if BToE pairing is configured and active. On the host side, verify if the BToE Connector application is running or set to auto-startAffected if BToE pairing is configured and the BToE Connector application is installed and active, creating the communication channel where hard-coded credentials would be used
The environment is affected if a Poly VVX phone is running UCS firmware version 5.8.0 or earlier AND has the BToE Connector application version 3.8.0 or earlier installed and enabled on the host system.
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 dataUpdate the VVX device firmware to a version newer than UCS 5.9.2 with BToE application newer than 3.9.1. If updates are unavailable, implement network segmentation to isolate VoIP devices and restrict access to management interfaces.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-10688 — 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-2019-10688 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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