Nx OsOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2019-1769
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 CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrator credentials to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system of an attached line card with the privilege level of root. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to a specific CLI command on the affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system of an attached line card with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability.
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 confidenceCommand injection vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS CLI allows authenticated administrators to execute arbitrary Linux commands with root privileges on attached line cards. The flaw stems from insufficient validation of arguments passed to a specific CLI command, enabling CLI context escape.
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
< 7.0\(3\)i7\(6\)>= 7.0\(3\), < 7.0\(3\)f3\(5\)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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Check NX-OS versionRun 'show version' in the NX-OS CLI and locate the installed NX-OS version string (e.g., 7.0(3)i7(5)). Compare your version against the affected ranges: < 7.0(3)i7(6) OR >= 7.0(3) but < 7.0(3)f3(5).Affected if Your installed version falls within < 7.0(3)i7(6) or >= 7.0(3) and < 7.0(3)f3(5)
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Identify if the vulnerable CLI command module is accessibleVerify you have administrator-level credentials and access to the NX-OS CLI. The vulnerability involves insufficient validation of arguments to a specific CLI command that allows CLI context escape.Affected if You have valid admin credentials and CLI access to the NX-OS device
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Review administrator accounts and CLI session logsExecute 'show logging' and review authentication logs for any CLI sessions that may have invoked commands outside the expected NX-OS CLI context. Look for evidence of shell escape patterns.Affected if Logs show commands executed outside the standard NX-OS CLI context or unexpected shell invocations
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Inspect for unexpected processes on line cardsIf accessible via diagnostic CLI, run 'show process cpu' or 'show system internal processes' on attached line cards to identify unexpected or suspicious processes running with elevated privileges.Affected if Unexpected processes are observed running on line cards, particularly as root
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Check for unauthorized files or scripts in NX-OS filesystemUse 'dir' command in NX-OS CLI or diagnostic mode to examine filesystem locations such as /bootflash/, /volatile/, or /tmp for unexpected scripts or binary files created by the attacker.Affected if Unexpected scripts or binaries are found in the NX-OS filesystem
Your environment is likely affected if the NX-OS version is within the vulnerable range AND you have admin CLI access, making credential management the critical detection control.
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 data7.0
Apply Cisco's vendor patch for NX-OS; restrict administrator access and monitor for suspicious CLI activity. Requires valid admin credentials for exploitation, so credential management is critical.
Fix this in Nx Os
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,776.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-1769 — 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-2019-1769 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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