Network Assurance EngineApplication · Cisco

CVE-2019-1688

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-02-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 management web interface of Cisco Network Assurance Engine (NAE) could allow an unauthenticated, local attacker to gain unauthorized access or cause a Denial of Service (DoS) condition on the server. The vulnerability is due to a fault in the password management system of NAE. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating with the default administrator password via the CLI of an affected server. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to view potentially sensitive information or bring the server down, causing a DoS condition. This vulnerability affects Cisco Network Assurance Engine (NAE) Release 3.0(1). The default password condition only affects new installations of Release 3.0(1).

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 · moderate confidence

A default password vulnerability in Cisco Network Assurance Engine (NAE) Release 3.0(1) allows an unauthenticated local attacker with CLI access to authenticate using the default administrator credentials, potentially exposing sensitive data or causing denial of service by crashing the server.

MitigationImmediately change the default administrator password via the CLI on new installations of NAE 3.0(1) per Cisco's documentation; verify no unauthorized access has occurred and monitor for anomalous activity.

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
Network Assurance EngineApplication
Affected:= 3.0\(1\)

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 NAE version 3.0(1) is installed
    Access the NAE CLI and run the command to display the installed version (typically 'show version' or similar system information command). Compare the output to version 3.0(1).
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 3.0(1)
  2. Check if default administrator password is still in use
    Attempt to log in to the NAE CLI or web interface using the default administrator credentials. Cisco NAE ships with a default admin username and password that should be changed during initial setup. If the default credentials still work, the system is vulnerable.
    Affected if The default administrator password has not been changed and authentication succeeds with factory-default credentials
  3. Verify password has been changed from documentation defaults
    Review any local documentation or password records to confirm the administrator password was changed during initial installation per Cisco documentation. If no password change was performed, the system is likely still using default credentials.
    Affected if The password was never changed from the documented default value

The environment is affected if Cisco NAE version 3.0(1) is running and the default administrator password has not been changed, allowing unauthenticated access with default credentials.

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

Immediately change the default administrator password via the CLI on new installations of NAE 3.0(1) per Cisco's documentation; verify no unauthorized access has occurred and monitor for anomalous activity.

Fix this in Network Assurance Engine Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-1688 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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