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Application Policy Infrastructure ControllerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2019-1682

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-05-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.1 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A vulnerability in the FUSE filesystem functionality for Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escalate privileges to root on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation for certain command strings issued on the CLI of the affected device. An attacker with write permissions for files within a readable folder on the device could alter certain definitions in the affected file. A successful exploit could allow an attacker to cause the underlying FUSE driver to execute said crafted commands, elevating the attacker's privileges to root on an affected device.

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 local privilege escalation vulnerability in Cisco APIC's FUSE (Filesystem in Userspace) implementation. An authenticated attacker with write access to files in a readable folder can inject malicious command strings through the CLI. Due to insufficient input validation, these commands get executed by the underlying FUSE driver with root privileges, allowing the attacker to escalate from their authenticated session to full root access.

MitigationApply the vendor patch from Cisco when available. Until then, restrict CLI access to only trusted administrators and limit file system write permissions to the minimum necessary. Monitor for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.

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
Application Policy Infrastructure ControllerApplication
Affected:< 4.1\(1i\)

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the Cisco APIC version
    Log into the APIC CLI or APIC web interface and retrieve the firmware/software version information. This is typically found under Admin > System Settings > Controller Version or via the 'show version' command in the CLI.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 4.1(1i)
  2. Confirm FUSE is enabled
    Check the APIC configuration for FUSE (Filesystem in Userspace) service status. This may be visible in the system services, running processes, or specific FUSE-related configuration files if accessible through admin privileges.
    Affected if FUSE daemon or service is running and accessible to authenticated users
  3. Review file system permissions on accessible directories
    Examine which directories are exposed to authenticated users and check write permissions on folders that are marked as readable. Use ls -la or equivalent commands on directories available through the APIC file system interface.
    Affected if Authenticated users have write access to any folder that is also readable by the FUSE driver
  4. Identify user session privileges
    Check the privileges assigned to the authenticated attacker session. Review which user roles have CLI access and what file system operations they are permitted to perform.
    Affected if The user has authenticated CLI access with any level of file system write permissions to readable directories
  5. Verify root command execution context
    Examine if there are any custom CLI commands, scripts, or configuration files that could be manipulated through the FUSE interface to execute commands. Look for evidence of command injection paths in the FUSE implementation.
    Affected if FUSE processes run with elevated (root) privileges and accept input from user-writable locations

The environment is affected if the Cisco APIC version is below 4.1(1i) AND FUSE is enabled with authenticated users having write access to readable directories, allowing command injection with root privileges.

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 4.1 or later
Fixed in 4.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch from Cisco when available. Until then, restrict CLI access to only trusted administrators and limit file system write permissions to the minimum necessary. Monitor for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.

Fix this in Application Policy Infrastructure Controller Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,392.

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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-2019-1682 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data