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Meeting ServerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2019-1794

MEDIUM · 5.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-04-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
53/100
Remediation priority · Moderate
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 search path processing of Cisco Directory Connector could allow an authenticated, local attacker to load a binary of their choosing. The vulnerability is due to uncontrolled search path elements. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by placing a binary of their choosing earlier in the search path utilized by Cisco Directory Connector to locate and load required resources.

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

Cisco Directory Connector has an uncontrolled search path vulnerability where the application does not properly validate or secure the paths used to locate and load required binaries. An authenticated local attacker can place a malicious binary in a directory that appears earlier in the search path, causing the application to execute the attacker's code instead of the legitimate component.

MitigationEnsure directories in the search path have restrictive file permissions to prevent unauthorized user writes, and apply vendor patches when available. Consider using absolute paths and verifying binary integrity before execution.

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
Meeting ServerApplication
Affected:= 2.2

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
Low
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N

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. Identify Cisco Meeting Server version
    Run 'sudo cmstoolctl status' or check the installed package version using the system package manager (e.g., 'dpkg -l | grep cisco-meeting' or 'rpm -qa | grep cisco-meeting')
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 2.2 (version 2.2.0 through 2.2.x) and the application loads external binaries from the system search path
  2. Examine the application search path
    Run 'echo $PATH' to view the system PATH, then check if any directories in the path are writable by non-privileged users. Use 'ls -la' on each PATH directory to inspect permissions
    Affected if Any directory appearing earlier in PATH is writable by an untrusted user, allowing them to place a malicious binary
  3. Check Cisco Meeting Server binary locations
    Run 'which <binary-name>' for binaries the application uses (consult product documentation for specific binary names), then run 'ls -la <path-to-binary>' to verify the directory is not user-writable
    Affected if The legitimate binary directory is preceded by a writable directory in the search order, or the binary is being resolved from a non-absolute path
  4. Review directory permissions in execution environment
    Check the permissions of directories where the application is installed and executed from: 'ls -ld /opt/cisco* /usr/local/bin /home/*' and similar paths. Verify only root or the application service account have write access
    Affected if Non-privileged users have write access to directories that appear earlier in the search path than the legitimate binary location

A user is affected if Cisco Meeting Server version 2.2 is installed AND directories in the system search path that precede the legitimate binary locations are writable by untrusted users.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Ensure directories in the search path have restrictive file permissions to prevent unauthorized user writes, and apply vendor patches when available. Consider using absolute paths and verifying binary integrity before execution.

Fix this in Meeting Server 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-2019-1794 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
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