Enterprise Network Function Virtualization InfrastructureApplication · Cisco
CVE-2019-1972
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 the Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software (NFVIS) restricted CLI could allow an authenticated, local attacker with valid administrator-level credentials to elevate privileges and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system as root. The vulnerability is due to insufficient restrictions during the execution of an affected CLI command. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by leveraging the insufficient restrictions during the execution of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system as root.
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 confidenceCisco NFVIS restricted CLI contains insufficient privilege restrictions that allow an authenticated administrator-level user to escape the restricted shell and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges on the underlying Linux 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
Enterprise Network Function Virtualization InfrastructureApplication
>= 3.6.3, <= 3.10.3CVSS 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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Confirm Cisco NFVIS is installedRun 'show version' or 'nvosctl show version' from the NFVIS CLI to identify the platform and software versionAffected if The system is running Cisco Enterprise Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure
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Verify the NFVIS versionLocate the software version from the 'show version' output and compare it against the affected range: 3.6.3 through 3.10.3Affected if The installed version falls within >= 3.6.3 and <= 3.10.3
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Identify restricted CLI admin accountsRun 'show admin-user' or review the user configuration to determine if any administrator-level accounts are configured with restricted CLI accessAffected if An authenticated administrator-level user exists with access to the restricted shell environment
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Check for unauthorized root accessReview system logs and audit records for unexpected commands or shell spawns originating from the restricted CLI context, or examine /var/log/messages and /var/log/audit/ for evidence of privilege escalation from the restricted shellAffected if Evidence exists of commands executed with root privileges from the restricted CLI context
The environment is affected if Cisco NFVIS is running a version between 3.6.3 and 3.10.3 and an administrator user has access to the restricted CLI, allowing potential escape to root privileges on the underlying Linux OS.
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 dataApply the Cisco patch/upgrade for NFVIS as specified in the Cisco security advisory; restrict administrative access and monitor for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.
Fix this in Enterprise Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $2,832.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-1972 — 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-2019-1972 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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