Data Center Network ManagerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2019-15985

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-01-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.3 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
Multiple vulnerabilities in the REST and SOAP API endpoints of Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary SQL commands on an affected device. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker would need administrative privileges on the DCNM application. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory. Note: The severity of these vulnerabilities is aggravated by the vulnerabilities described in the Cisco Data Center Network Manager Authentication Bypass Vulnerabilities advisory, published simultaneously with this one.

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

SQL injection vulnerabilities in Cisco DCNM's REST and SOAP API endpoints allow authenticated attackers with administrative privileges to execute arbitrary SQL commands on the underlying database. These flaws likely stem from unsanitized user input being incorporated directly into SQL queries.

MitigationImplement parameterized queries or prepared statements for all database interactions in the REST and SOAP API endpoints. Apply Cisco's patches immediately; if unavailable, restrict administrative access and monitor for suspicious SQL-like query patterns in logs.

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
Data Center Network ManagerApplication
Affected:< 11.3\(1\)

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 DCNM installation
    Identify whether Cisco Data Center Network Manager is deployed in your environment. Check for DCNM processes, services, or installations on the system.
    Affected if Cisco DCNM software is present and running
  2. Check installed DCNM version
    Locate the installed version of Cisco Data Center Network Manager. Typically found in the application GUI under About, or via CLI commands specific to the DCNM installation. Compare the version number to the affected range: versions prior to 11.3(1) are vulnerable.
    Affected if Installed version is lower than 11.3(1)
  3. Verify REST API endpoint accessibility
    Determine if the REST API endpoints are exposed and accessible on the DCNM server. Check network accessibility of the REST API port (default 443 or as configured during installation).
    Affected if REST API is accessible over the network and DCNM version is < 11.3(1)
  4. Verify SOAP API endpoint accessibility
    Determine if the SOAP API endpoints are exposed and accessible on the DCNM server. Check network accessibility of the SOAP API port.
    Affected if SOAP API is accessible over the network and DCNM version is < 11.3(1)

Your environment is affected if Cisco Data Center Network Manager is installed with a version lower than 11.3(1) and either the REST or SOAP API endpoints are network-accessible, since an authenticated administrator could exploit the SQL injection through these interfaces.

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 11.3 or later
Fixed in 11.3
Interim mitigation

Implement parameterized queries or prepared statements for all database interactions in the REST and SOAP API endpoints. Apply Cisco's patches immediately; if unavailable, restrict administrative access and monitor for suspicious SQL-like query patterns in logs.

Fix this in Data Center Network Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
27.0 hours of engineering $4,800
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2019-15985 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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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