Nx OsOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2019-1768
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 implementation of a specific CLI command for Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrator credentials to cause a buffer overflow condition or perform command injection. This could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges on the underlying operating system of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to a certain CLI command. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of the affected CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with root privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit these vulnerabilities.
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 confidenceThis vulnerability exists in a specific CLI command in Cisco NX-OS Software where insufficient validation of user-supplied arguments allows an authenticated attacker with administrator credentials to trigger a buffer overflow or perform command injection, achieving arbitrary command execution with root privileges on the underlying operating system.
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
Nx OsOperating system
< 8.3\(1\)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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Cisco NX-OS software versionExecute the command 'show version' in the NX-OS CLI and locate the version string in the outputAffected if The displayed version is any release prior to 8.3(1), for example 8.2(1), 8.1(1), 7.x, or earlier releases
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Confirm the NX-OS release trainCheck the 'show version' output for the release train identifier (such as 8.3, 8.2, 8.1, or 7.x)Affected if The release train shown is 8.2 or earlier (the vulnerability was patched in 8.3(1))
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Determine if the device permits administrator-level CLI accessVerify the presence of admin or administrator privilege accounts by reviewing running configuration with 'show running-config | include "role name"' or by checking authenticated user sessionsAffected if Administrator or admin-role accounts exist and are active on the device, as the attacker requires these credentials to exploit the flaw
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Identify the specific CLI command contextReview configuration and command history for usage of the affected CLI command by examining 'show command-history' or logging outputs if availableAffected if The specific vulnerable CLI command that accepts user-supplied arguments has been executed on the device, combined with version and privilege conditions
The environment is affected if the device runs any Cisco NX-OS version prior to 8.3(1) and an authenticated administrator can access the CLI to invoke the vulnerable command.
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 data8.3
Apply the relevant Cisco NX-OS software update or security patch that addresses this vulnerability. Ensure only trusted administrators have access and follow least-privilege principles.
Fix this in Nx Os
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,648.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-1768 — 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-2019-1768 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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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.
- 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
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