AsyncosOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2019-15956
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the web management interface of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to perform an unauthorized system reset on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper authorization controls for a specific URL in the web management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to an affected device. A successful exploit could have a twofold impact: the attacker could either change the administrator password, gaining privileged access, or reset the network configuration details, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition. In both scenarios, manual intervention is required to restore normal operations.
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 confidenceThis vulnerability in Cisco WSA's web management interface allows an authenticated attacker to bypass proper authorization controls on a specific URL, enabling unauthorized system reset operations. The attacker can either change the administrator password to gain full privileged access or reset network configuration causing denial of service. Manual intervention is required to restore normal operations.
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
AsyncosOperating system
>= 10.1, < 10.1.5-004>= 10.5, < 11.5.3-016>= 11.7, < 11.7.1-006
Web Security ApplianceApplication
= 10.5.2-072= 11.5.1-fcs-125= 11.7.0-fcs-418CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Cisco WSA device versionAccess the web management interface and navigate to System Administration > System Overview, or use CLI command 'version' to display the AsyncOS versionAffected if The displayed version falls within these vulnerable ranges: AsyncOS 10.1.x before 10.1.5-004, AsyncOS 10.5.x before 11.5.3-016, AsyncOS 11.7.x before 11.7.1-006, or specific builds 10.5.2-072, 11.5.1-fcs-125, 11.7.0-fcs-418
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Verify web management interface is enabledCheck via CLI: 'show interface' or inspect web UI access settings under System Administration > Network AccessAffected if The web management interface is exposed and accessible to network users (especially if accessible from untrusted networks)
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Check for unauthorized system configuration changesReview system logs under System Administration > Log Subscriptions for any unexpected password change or network configuration reset events, or compare current network configuration against known-good baselineAffected if Unexpected system reset, password change, or network configuration modification events appear in logs without corresponding legitimate admin action
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Confirm admin account integrityReview user accounts under System Administration > User Management to verify all administrator accounts are legitimate and have expected privilege levelsAffected if New or modified administrator accounts exist that were not created by authorized personnel, or admin password was changed unexpectedly
The environment is affected if the Cisco WSA is running an AsyncOS version within the vulnerable ranges and the web management interface is accessible to an authenticated but unauthorized attacker who could exploit the authorization bypass.
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 data10.1.5-00411.5.3-01611.7.1-006
Apply the vendor patch from Cisco for this authorization bypass vulnerability and review user access controls to ensure least-privilege principles are enforced.
Fix this in Asyncos
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-15956 — 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-2019-15956 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
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