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Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2019-12661

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-09-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 a Virtualization Manager (VMAN) related CLI command of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system with a privilege level of root. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to a specific VMAN CLI command on the affected device. An attacker who has administrator access to an affected device could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the device with root privileges, which may lead to complete system compromise.

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

A command injection vulnerability exists in the Virtualization Manager (VMAN) CLI component of Cisco IOS XE Software. An authenticated attacker with administrator privileges can inject arbitrary commands through insufficiently validated arguments passed to a specific VMAN CLI command, achieving root-level execution on the underlying Linux OS.

MitigationApply the Cisco IOS XE software update when available. Until then, restrict administrative access to trusted personnel only and monitor for unauthorized administrative sessions.

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
Ios XeOperating system
Affected:= 15.3\(3\)s= 15.4\(2\)s= 15.4\(3\)s= 15.5\(1\)s= 15.5\(2\)s= 15.5\(3\)s= 15.6\(1\)s

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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. Confirm Cisco IOS XE is running
    Run 'show version' and look for 'IOS XE' in the output, or run 'show inventory' to identify the device type
    Affected if The device is not running Cisco IOS XE software (this CVE only applies to IOS XE)
  2. Identify the IOS XE version
    Run 'show version' and locate the version string (typically in format 15.X(Y)Zs or 16.X(Y)Zs)
    Affected if The installed version matches any of these: 15.3(3)s, 15.4(2)s, 15.4(3)s, 15.5(1)s, 15.5(2)s, 15.5(3)s, or 15.6(1)s
  3. Check if VMAN feature is enabled
    Run 'show vman' or 'show virtual-service global' to see if Virtualization Manager or virtual services are configured
    Affected if VMAN or virtual-service features are enabled on the device
  4. Verify administrator access controls
    Run 'show privilege' and 'show users' to check current privilege level and active administrative sessions
    Affected if Multiple administrator accounts exist or remote admin access is permitted (the exploit requires administrator privileges)

The device is vulnerable if it runs Cisco IOS XE versions 15.3(3)s, 15.4(2)s, 15.4(3)s, 15.5(1)s, 15.5(2)s, 15.5(3)s, or 15.6(1)s AND has VMAN virtual-service features enabled with administrator access configured.

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 the Cisco IOS XE software update when available. Until then, restrict administrative access to trusted personnel only and monitor for unauthorized administrative sessions.

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2019-12661 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
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