Nx OsOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2019-1790
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 valid administrator credentials to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands. 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 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 confidenceCommand injection vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS CLI where an authenticated administrator can execute arbitrary OS commands with elevated privileges by supplying malicious arguments to certain CLI commands due to insufficient input validation.
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
>= 5.2, < 6.2\(25\)>= 7.3, < 8.1\(1b\)>= 8.2, < 8.2\(3\)>= 8.3, < 8.3\(1\)< 7.0\(3\)i4\(8\)>= 7.0\(3\)i7, < 7.3\(3\)i7\(3\)>= 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\(3\)< 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 installed NX-OS versionExecute 'show version' in the NX-OS CLI and locate the 'NX-OS' or 'system' version lineAffected if The displayed version falls within any of the affected ranges: >= 5.2 to < 6.2(25), >= 7.3 to < 8.1(1b), >= 8.2 to < 8.2(3), >= 8.3 to < 8.3(1), < 7.0(3)i4(8), >= 7.0(3)i7 to < 7.3(3)i7(3), >= 7.0(3) to < 7.0(3)f3(5), < 7.3(4)n1(1), < 6.2(22), >= 7.2 to < 7.3(3)d1(1), >= 8.0 to < 8.2(3), or < 4.0(1a
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Verify administrator access existsUse 'show user' or 'show running-config | include user' to list configured administrator accountsAffected if Any administrator-level accounts are configured, as an authenticated admin is required to exploit this vulnerability
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Review command history for suspicious activityExecute 'show history' or check syslog/switched fabric logs for CLI commands with unusual argument patterns such as semicolons, pipes, or backticksAffected if CLI commands containing potential command injection payloads are found in history or logs
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Check for unexpected system commands in logsReview system logs (using 'show logging' or external syslog) for execution of shell commands or scripts initiated from the CLIAffected if Logs show OS-level commands or scripts executed that were not initiated by normal administrative procedures
The environment is affected if the Cisco NX-OS version falls within any of the listed affected ranges AND administrator-level CLI access exists, allowing an authenticated admin to inject malicious arguments through insufficiently validated CLI commands.
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 data4.06.27.0
Apply the Cisco NX-OS software update addressing CVE-2019-1790. Restrict administrative CLI access to trusted personnel and audit administrative command execution for suspicious activity.
Fix this in Nx Os
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,728.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-1790 — 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-2019-1790 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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