Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A very old Cisco vulnerability from 1999 in the AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting) authentication system allowed attackers to run commands on Cisco devices without proper authorization. In plain terms, the security gatekeeper on affected Cisco equipment could be bypassed, letting someone issue instructions they should not have been able to run.
Executive priority
Low priority for modern environments; treat as a legacy hygiene item. If the organization still operates 1990s-era Cisco gear, elevate to a remediation or decommissioning conversation. Otherwise, no immediate executive action is warranted based on the available sources.
Technical view
CVE-1999-0293 describes an authorization bypass in Cisco AAA authentication that permitted unauthorized command execution on affected Cisco systems. The public record is sparse: no CVSS score, no CWE mapping, and no specific vendor, product, or version is listed in the CVE bundle. References point only to a legacy X-Force entry. Any modern-day exposure would depend on whether unpatched legacy Cisco IOS devices remain in service.
Likely exposure
Exposure today is likely negligible for organizations running currently supported Cisco IOS or IOS XE releases. Any residual risk is confined to unmaintained late-1990s Cisco gear still processing AAA authentication. The source bundle does not enumerate affected models or versions, so environments with legacy hardware should verify against Cisco's own advisory history.
Exploitation context
Not listed in CISA KEV. No public evidence in the provided bundle indicates active exploitation, and the vulnerability predates most current threat-intel tracking. Given the age (published 1999-09-29) and lack of a CVSS score, credible weaponization data is not available in the cited sources.
Researcher notes
The CVE record is a legacy 1999 entry with minimal metadata: no CVSS, no CWE, no CPE, and vendor/product listed as "n/a". The sole non-CVE reference is an X-Force vulnerability page. Researchers should treat affected-product scope as unconfirmed and consult Cisco PSIRT archives before asserting applicability. Absence of KEV designation and absence of modern exploit tooling references reduce likelihood of meaningful current-day risk, but confidence is limited by source thinness.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory Cisco devices and retire any unsupported late-1990s IOS hardware still in production.
- Consult Cisco Security Advisories for guidance tied to legacy AAA authorization defects.
- Ensure AAA is configured with current best practices, including command authorization on TACACS+ where feasible.
- Restrict management-plane access to trusted administrative networks and jump hosts.
- Enable logging of privileged command execution and forward to a central SIEM for review.
Validation and detection
- Enumerate Cisco IOS/IOS XE versions in use and compare against Cisco's supported release matrix.
- Review AAA configuration for authorization gaps, particularly commands executable without matching authorization policy.
- Audit TACACS+/RADIUS server logs for command execution events that lack an authorization decision.
- Confirm management interfaces are unreachable from untrusted networks via configuration and external scan.
- Check Cisco PSIRT publications referencing legacy AAA authorization behavior for any relevant advisories.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-1999-0293 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/CVE-1999-0293CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.