dbcve.org
Application Delivery Controller FirmwareOperating system · Citrix

CVE-2019-18225

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-10-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
An issue was discovered in Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and Gateway before 10.5 build 70.8, 11.x before 11.1 build 63.9, 12.0 before build 62.10, 12.1 before build 54.16, and 13.0 before build 41.28. An attacker with management-interface access can bypass authentication to obtain appliance administrative access. These products formerly used the NetScaler brand name.

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

Authentication bypass vulnerability in Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and Gateway allows an attacker with management-interface access to bypass authentication and obtain full appliance administrative control. This is a privilege escalation issue affecting multiple versions prior to the fixed builds.

MitigationUpgrade Citrix ADC/Gateway to the specified fixed versions (10.5 build 70.8, 11.1 build 63.9, 12.0 build 62.10, 12.1 build 54.16, or 13.0 build 41.28) or apply the relevant patches. Restrict management interface access to trusted networks as an interim control.

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
Application Delivery Controller FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 10.5= 11.1= 12.0= 12.1= 13.0
Netscaler Gateway FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 10.5= 11.1= 12.0= 12.1
Gateway FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 13.0

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 Citrix ADC or Gateway firmware version
    Log into the appliance CLI and run 'show version' or 'show hardwareinfo' to display the firmware build number. In the GUI, navigate to System > Information > Version. Record the full version string including the build number.
    Affected if The displayed version is 10.5 (any build before 70.8), 11.1 (any build before 63.9), 12.0 (any build before 62.10), 12.1 (any build before 54.16), or 13.0 (any build before 41.28).
  2. Confirm the product model is vulnerable
    Run 'show ns version' or check the GUI System Information page to identify whether the appliance is a Citrix ADC, Netscaler Gateway, or Citrix Gateway model. The vulnerability applies to all listed product types.
    Affected if The appliance is identified as a Citrix ADC, Netscaler Gateway, or Citrix Gateway running a firmware version listed in step 1.
  3. Determine if management interface is network-accessible
    Review network configuration by running 'show ip' and checking which interfaces are bound to management services. Verify if the management IP (typically nsip) is reachable from untrusted networks or the internet.
    Affected if The management interface (nsip) is bound and accessible from networks outside the trusted administrative network, or port 443/80 management access is exposed publicly.
  4. Review admin accounts for unauthorized changes
    Run 'show system user' in the CLI or check System > User Administration > Users in the GUI to list all administrative accounts. Compare against known legitimate admin accounts.
    Affected if Unexpected or unknown admin accounts exist, or audit logs show account creation/modification by unknown users.
  5. Examine audit logs for suspicious administrative activity
    Run 'show auditlog' or review logs in System > Audit Logs through the GUI. Look for concurrent admin sessions, privilege escalation events, or commands executed outside normal administrative patterns.
    Affected if Logs show admin sessions originating from unexpected IP addresses, multiple simultaneous admin sessions, or commands that indicate full administrative control was obtained by an untrusted source.

The environment is affected if the installed Citrix ADC or Gateway firmware version matches one of the affected version ranges AND the management interface is accessible to an untrusted actor who could exploit the authentication bypass to gain full administrative control.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Citrix ADC/Gateway to the specified fixed versions (10.5 build 70.8, 11.1 build 63.9, 12.0 build 62.10, 12.1 build 54.16, or 13.0 build 41.28) or apply the relevant patches. Restrict management interface access to trusted networks as an interim control.

Recommended fix High confidence

Minimum fixed builds: 10.5 build 70.8, 11.1 build 63.9, 12.0 build 62.10, 12.1 build 54.16, 13.0 build 41.28

  1. 1. Identify the current Citrix ADC/Gateway firmware version and build number
  2. 2. For version 10.5: upgrade to build 70.8 or later
  3. 3. For version 11.1: upgrade to build 63.9 or later
  4. 4. For version 12.0: upgrade to build 62.10 or later
  5. 5. For version 12.1: upgrade to build 54.16 or later
  6. 6. For version 13.0: upgrade to build 41.28 or later
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify the new build is running and test authentication functionality
  8. 8. Review Citrix release notes for any additional post-upgrade configuration requirements
Caveat Minor: Upgrading within same major version typically has minimal breaking changes, but review release notes for any configuration changes required

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Application Delivery Controller Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-18225 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2019-18225 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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