Spa500 Series Ip Phones FirmwareOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2019-15959
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 Cisco Small Business SPA500 Series IP Phones could allow a physically proximate attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the device. The vulnerability is due to the presence of development testing and verification scripts that remained on the device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by accessing the physical interface of a device and inserting a USB storage device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute scripts on the device in an elevated security context.
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 confidenceThe vulnerability exists in Cisco Small Business SPA500 Series IP Phones due to development testing and verification scripts that were inadvertently left on the production devices. A physically proximate attacker with direct access to the device's physical interface can insert a USB storage device to execute these scripts with elevated (root) privileges, achieving arbitrary command execution.
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
Spa500 Series Ip Phones FirmwareOperating system
<= 7.5.7\(5\)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
- Physical
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/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 the device modelAccess the IP phone's web administration interface or check the physical device label to confirm it is a Cisco SPA500 Series IP Phone (such as SPA501G, SPA502G, SPA504G, SPA508G, SPA512G, SPA514G, or SPA525G models)Affected if The device is not a Cisco SPA500 series model
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Check the firmware versionLog into the phone's web interface, navigate to the Administration or System Information page, and locate the firmware version number. Alternatively, you can press the Setup button on the phone and navigate to System > Software Version to display the current firmwareAffected if The firmware version is 7.5.7(5) or any earlier version (for example, 7.5.6, 7.5.5, 7.5.4, etc.)
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Verify USB port availabilityPhysically inspect the IP phone to determine if it has a USB port. Some models in the SPA500 series (such as SPA525G) include a USB port for accessories. Check the front or side panel of the device for a USB Type-A connectorAffected if The device has an accessible USB port that can accept a USB storage device
A user is affected if they have a Cisco SPA500 series IP phone running firmware version 7.5.7(5) or earlier with an accessible USB port, allowing a physically proximate attacker to insert a USB device and execute development scripts with root privileges.
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 dataApply available Cisco firmware updates for the SPA500 series that remove the development scripts, or contact Cisco support for specific remediation guidance if no patch is available.
Fix this in Spa500 Series Ip Phones Firmware
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-15959 — 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-2019-15959 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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