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Ns OxOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2019-1770

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-05-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.2 / 6.0 or later.
See remediation →
69/100
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 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 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 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 confidence

A local privilege escalation vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS CLI allows an authenticated administrator to execute arbitrary Linux commands with root privileges due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to a specific CLI command. The attacker must have valid administrator credentials to exploit this.

MitigationApply the Cisco-provided software patch for NX-OS when available. Until then, strictly limit administrator account access and monitor for suspicious command execution patterns from admin sessions.

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
Ns OxOperating system
Affected:>= 5.2, < 5.2\(1\)sm3\(2.1\)< 7.0\(3\)i4\(9\)>= 7.0\(3\)i7, < 7.0\(3\)i7\(4\)< 6.0\(2\)a8\(11\)>= 7.0\(3\)i4, < 7.0\(3\)i4\(9\)>= 7.0\(3\), < 7.0\(3\)f3\(5\)< 7.3\(4\)n1\(1\)< 6.2\(22\)>= 7.2, < 7.3\(3\)d1\(1\)>= 8.0, < 8.2\(3\)>= 8.3, < 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 checks

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

  1. Check NX-OS version installed
    Execute `show version` in the NX-OS CLI. Look for the system version line (e.g., 'NXOS: version 7.0(3)I4(8)' or similar).
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: >= 5.2 but < 5.2(1)sm3(2.1); < 7.0(3)i4(9); >= 7.0(3)i7 but < 7.0(3)i7(4); < 6.0(2)a8(11); >= 7.0(3)i4 but < 7.0(3)i4(9); >= 7.0(3) but < 7.0(3)f3(5); < 7.3(4)n1(1); < 6.2(22); >= 7.2 but < 7.3(3)d1(1); >= 8.0 but < 8.2(3); >= 8.3 but < 8.3(1).
  2. Confirm administrator access exists
    Verify that valid administrator credentials can be used to access the NX-OS CLI. This vulnerability requires an authenticated administrator session.
    Affected if Any enabled administrator or admin-level account can log in to the NX-OS device.
  3. Identify vulnerable CLI command usage
    Review command logs or audit trails for suspicious or unusual CLI commands that may indicate exploitation. The vulnerability involves insufficient validation of arguments passed to a specific NX-OS CLI command.
    Affected if Unusual or malformed CLI commands are observed being executed with administrator privileges.

You are affected if your NX-OS version falls within the listed vulnerable ranges AND an authenticated administrator can access the device.

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 5.2 / 6.0 / 6.2 or later
Fixed in 5.26.06.2
Interim mitigation

Apply the Cisco-provided software patch for NX-OS when available. Until then, strictly limit administrator account access and monitor for suspicious command execution patterns from admin sessions.

Fix this in Ns Ox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2019-1770 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data