dbcve.org
Webex MeetingsApplication · Cisco

CVE-2019-16001

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
56/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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 loading mechanism of specific dynamic link libraries in Cisco Webex Teams for Windows could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform a DLL hijacking attack. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need to have valid credentials on the Windows system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of the resources loaded by the application at run time. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a malicious DLL file and placing it in a specific location on the targeted system. The malicious DLL file would execute when the vulnerable application is launched. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target machine with the privileges of another user account.

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

This is a DLL hijacking vulnerability in Cisco Webex Teams for Windows where the application insufficiently validates dynamic link libraries loaded at runtime. An authenticated local attacker can place a malicious DLL in a specific location on the target system, which the application will load and execute when launched, allowing arbitrary code execution with the privileges of another user account.

MitigationImplement secure DLL loading by using full absolute paths for all DLL dependencies, validating DLL signatures/cryptographic hashes before loading, and using safe library search order configurations (e.g., SetDllDirectory with empty string to remove current directory from search path).

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
Webex MeetingsApplication
Affected:all versions
Webex TeamsApplication
Affected:all versions

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

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 if Cisco Webex is installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, InstallLocation' in PowerShell to list installed programs. Look for 'Cisco Webex Teams' or 'Cisco Webex Meetings'.
    Affected if Either Cisco Webex Teams or Cisco Webex Meetings appears in the installed programs list.
  2. Locate the Webex installation directory
    If installed, note the InstallLocation path from the previous step, or right-click the Webex shortcut, select Properties, and check the 'Start in' field to find the executable path.
    Affected if An installation directory exists for Cisco Webex.
  3. Inspect the Webex installation directory for unexpected DLL files
    Navigate to the installation directory identified in step 2. Look for any .dll files that are not part of the standard Webex distribution or appear out of place (e.g., newly created, unusual names, unexpected DLLs in the main folder). Use 'dir *.dll' to list all DLLs.
    Affected if Any untrusted or unexpected DLL files are present in the installation directory.
  4. Check for DLLs in user-writable directories accessible to other users
    Examine common DLL hijacking locations such as the user's TEMP folder (%TEMP%), the current working directory where Webex is launched from, or any shared folder accessible by other authenticated users. Run 'dir /s /b *.dll' in these locations to find DLLs.
    Affected if Suspicious DLL files exist in locations where an authenticated attacker could place a file and where Webex might load them.
  5. Verify the installed Webex version against affected ranges
    In Programs and Features, note the exact version displayed for Cisco Webex Teams or Cisco Webex Meetings. According to the advisory, all versions of both products are affected.
    Affected if Any version of Cisco Webex Teams or Cisco Webex Meetings is installed.

A system is affected if Cisco Webex Teams or Cisco Webex Meetings is installed, regardless of version, and an untrusted DLL exists in any location where the application searches for libraries at runtime.

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

Implement secure DLL loading by using full absolute paths for all DLL dependencies, validating DLL signatures/cryptographic hashes before loading, and using safe library search order configurations (e.g., SetDllDirectory with empty string to remove current directory from search path).

Fix this in Webex Meetings Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,600
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-16001 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2019-16001 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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