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VxworksOperating system · Windriver

CVE-2019-12257

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-08-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.9.4 / 7.59 or later.
See remediation →
93/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
High EPSS No privileges 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
Wind River VxWorks 6.6 through 6.9 has a Buffer Overflow in the DHCP client component. There is an IPNET security vulnerability: Heap overflow in DHCP Offer/ACK parsing inside ipdhcpc.

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 confidence

Heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Wind River VxWorks DHCP client (ipdhcpc) during parsing of DHCP Offer/ACK packets. The overflow occurs in the IPNET network stack component when processing specially crafted DHCP responses, potentially allowing remote code execution or denial of service.

MitigationPrioritize obtaining and applying the official Wind River security patch for VxWorks 6.6-6.9. If patching is not immediately feasible, implement network segmentation to isolate affected devices from untrusted network segments and consider deploying DHCP snooping on adjacent switches to filter malicious DHCP responses.

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
VxworksOperating system
Affected:>= 6.5, < 6.9.4
SonicosOperating system
Affected:>= 5.9.0.0, <= 5.9.0.7>= 5.9.1.0., <= 5.9.1.12>= 6.2.0.0, <= 6.2.3.1>= 6.2.4.0, <= 6.2.4.3>= 6.2.5.0, <= 6.2.5.3>= 6.2.6.0, <= 6.2.6.1>= 6.2.7.0, <= 6.2.7.4>= 6.2.9.0, <= 6.2.9.2>= 6.5.0.0, <= 6.5.0.3>= 6.5.1.0, <= 6.5.1.4>= 6.5.2.0, <= 6.5.2.3>= 6.5.3.0, <= 6.5.3.3
Siprotec 5 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 7.59< 7.91
E Series Santricity Os ControllerOperating system
Affected:>= 8.00, <= 8.40.50.00
Ruggedcom Win7000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< bs5.2.461.17
Ruggedcom Win7018 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< bs5.2.461.17
Ruggedcom Win7025 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< bs5.2.461.17
Ruggedcom Win7200 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< bs5.2.461.17

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the system product and version
    Determine the exact product name and firmware/software version running on the device. For VxWorks-based systems, this may be visible in system information, boot logs, or administrative interfaces.
    Affected if The identified version falls within any of the affected ranges: VxWorks >= 6.5 and < 6.9.4, Sonicwall Sonicos versions listed, Siemens Siprotec < 7.59 or < 7.91, NetApp E Series 8.00-8.40.50.00, or Siemens Ruggedcom Win firmware < bs5.2.461.17
  2. Locate the DHCP client component
    Identify whether the ipdhcpc DHCP client component is present on the system. On VxWorks systems, this may be listed in system documentation, component lists, or visible in running process tables if accessible.
    Affected if The ipdhcpc DHCP client component is installed or present on the system
  3. Verify DHCP client is enabled and in use
    Check if the DHCP client is actively configured or running. This may involve reviewing network configuration files, DHCP client status through administrative interfaces, or system startup configurations.
    Affected if DHCP client is enabled and the system is configured to obtain IP addresses via DHCP from network interfaces
  4. Assess network exposure
    Evaluate whether the device is connected to network segments where it could receive DHCP responses from untrusted sources. Identify if the device operates in trusted network zones.
    Affected if The device can receive DHCP responses from network segments that are not fully trusted or controlled

The system is likely affected if it runs any of the affected product versions AND has the DHCP client (ipdhcpc) enabled, allowing it to process potentially malicious DHCP responses from the network.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.9.4 / 7.59 / 7.91 or later
Fixed in 6.9.47.597.91
Interim mitigation

Prioritize obtaining and applying the official Wind River security patch for VxWorks 6.6-6.9. If patching is not immediately feasible, implement network segmentation to isolate affected devices from untrusted network segments and consider deploying DHCP snooping on adjacent switches to filter malicious DHCP responses.

Fix this in Vxworks Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
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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-2019-12257 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