Prime InfrastructureApplication · Cisco
CVE-2019-1659
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 Identity Services Engine (ISE) integration feature of Cisco Prime Infrastructure (PI) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to perform a man-in-the-middle attack against the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) tunnel established between ISE and PI. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of the server SSL certificate when establishing the SSL tunnel with ISE. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using a crafted SSL certificate and could then intercept communications between the ISE and PI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to view and alter potentially sensitive information that the ISE maintains about clients that are connected to the network. This vulnerability affects Cisco Prime Infrastructure Software Releases 2.2 through 3.4.0 when the PI server is integrated with ISE, which is disabled by default.
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 confidenceCisco Prime Infrastructure has an improper SSL certificate validation vulnerability in its ISE integration feature. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by using a crafted SSL certificate to perform a man-in-the-middle attack, intercepting and potentially altering sensitive client information flowing between ISE and PI.
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
Prime InfrastructureApplication
>= 2.2, <= 3.4.0CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
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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Check Cisco Prime Infrastructure versionLog into the Prime Infrastructure admin console and navigate to Administration > Settings > System Settings, or use the CLI command 'show version' to identify the installed software version.Affected if The installed version is between 2.2 and 3.4.0 inclusive.
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Verify ISE integration is configuredIn the Prime Infrastructure web interface, navigate to Administration > ISE Settings or look for ISE (Identity Services Engine) integration settings under the relevant configuration menu. Check if any ISE profile or integration is defined.Affected if ISE integration is enabled or configured in the Prime Infrastructure instance.
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Inspect SSL certificate validation for ISEReview the SSL/TLS configuration for the ISE integration connection. In the ISE settings page, examine whether certificate validation is enforced or if the option to accept invalid certificates is enabled.Affected if Certificate validation is disabled, or the system is configured to accept invalid/untrusted SSL certificates for ISE communication.
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Check for ISE integration via CLIUse the Prime Infrastructure CLI or API to query the ISE integration status. Commands may include 'show running-config | include ise' or checking the configuration database for ISE-related settings.Affected if ISE integration settings exist in the active configuration.
A system is affected if it runs Cisco Prime Infrastructure version 2.2 through 3.4.0 and has ISE integration enabled, regardless of certificate validation setting in the affected versions.
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 the Cisco patch for this vulnerability when available, or disable ISE integration in Cisco PI as a temporary workaround if not needed. Ensure proper certificate validation is enforced on the SSL tunnel.
Fix this in Prime Infrastructure
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-2019-1659 — 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-2019-1659 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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