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Nx OsOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2019-1592

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-05-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
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 background operations functionality of Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) Mode Switch Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to gain elevated privileges as root on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied files on an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to the CLI of the affected device and creating a crafted file in a specific directory on the filesystem. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary operating system commands as root on an affected 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 confidence

This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Cisco Nexus 9000 Series ACI Mode Switch Software. An authenticated attacker with CLI access can create a crafted file in a specific directory on the filesystem, and due to insufficient validation of user-supplied files in the background operations functionality, this allows execution of arbitrary operating system commands as root.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patch or upgrade to a fixed software version. Restrict CLI access to trusted, authorized personnel only to reduce the attack surface.

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
Nx OsOperating system
Affected:= 14.1\(0.90\)

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 Cisco NX-OS version
    Execute 'show version' in the CLI and locate the NX-OS version string in the output
    Affected if The version displayed is exactly 14.1(0.90)
  2. Confirm the switch is running in ACI mode
    Execute 'show mode' or 'show system mode' in the CLI to verify the deployment mode
    Affected if The mode shows ACI mode and the NX-OS version is 14.1(0.90)
  3. Verify CLI access security
    Review the AAA configuration with 'show running-config | include aaa' and check for unexpected user accounts with 'show users'
    Affected if Untrusted or unauthorized users have CLI access on an affected version
  4. Audit filesystem for unexpected files
    Inspect the /var/sam/BAF directory (or other writable directories accessible to authenticated users) for unfamiliar files using 'ls -la /var/sam/BAF'
    Affected if Unknown or crafted files exist in writable directories on an affected version
  5. Check for anomalous root-level processes
    Review running processes with 'show process' and inspect system logs for command executions originating from non-admin users
    Affected if Unexpected processes run as root or unusual command execution appears in logs

A user is affected if their Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switch runs NX-OS version 14.1(0.90) in ACI mode and has authenticated CLI access available (since the vulnerability requires an authenticated attacker to trigger the privilege escalation).

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 vendor-supplied patch or upgrade to a fixed software version. Restrict CLI access to trusted, authorized personnel only to reduce the attack surface.

Fix this in Nx Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,180
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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-2019-1592 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