Nx OsOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2019-1784
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 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 confidenceThis is a command injection vulnerability in the Cisco NX-OS CLI where insufficient validation of arguments passed to a specific CLI command allows an authenticated attacker with administrator credentials to execute arbitrary Linux commands 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
< 7.3\(5\)n1\(1\)>= 7.2, < 7.3\(3\)d1\(1\)>= 8.0, < 8.2\(3\)>= 8.3, < 8.3\(1\)< 4.0\(1a\)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 NX-OS versionRun 'show version' command on the device CLI to display the installed Cisco NX-OS software versionAffected if The displayed version falls within any of these ranges: < 7.3(5)n1(1), >= 7.2 and < 7.3(3)d1(1), >= 8.0 and < 8.2(3), >= 8.3 and < 8.3(1), or < 4.0(1a)
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Confirm product is Cisco NX-OSIn the 'show version' output, verify the device is running Cisco NX-OS and not another Cisco operating systemAffected if The device is confirmed to be running Cisco NX-OS and the version matches an affected range from step 1
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Verify administrative access existsConfirm that administrator-level credentials or executive privilege mode are available on the device, as the vulnerability requires authenticated admin accessAffected if Administrator accounts or exec privilege exist on the device (this is the prerequisite for the vulnerability to be exploitable)
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Check for anomalous CLI command usageReview device logs, accounting records, or command history for suspicious or unexpected CLI command invocations that may indicate exploitation attemptsAffected if Unusual or unauthorized CLI commands are observed in logs or command history, particularly commands that could indicate command injection
A user is affected if the device runs Cisco NX-OS in any of the version ranges listed and has administrator accounts configured, allowing an authenticated attacker to inject commands through the vulnerable CLI 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 data4.07.38.2
Apply the relevant Cisco NX-OS software update/patch when available. Until then, strictly limit administrative access to the device and monitor for suspicious CLI command usage.
Fix this in Nx Os
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-1784 — 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-2019-1784 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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