Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This is a permission-control flaw in Cisco SMA. A logged-in user with a specially configured custom role could view spam quarantine email belonging to other users. The known impact is limited information disclosure, not system takeover or service disruption.
Executive priority
Prioritize during the next security maintenance cycle, sooner where SMA handles sensitive mail or delegated administration is widely used. The main business risk is unauthorized exposure of quarantined email content, which may include personal, legal, or confidential information.
Technical view
Cisco SMA Software incorrectly implements role permission controls in its authorization module. An authenticated remote attacker using a custom role with specific permissions could access other users' spam quarantine content. The CVSS v3.0 score is 4.3, with low attack complexity and low privileges required.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations running Cisco Content Security Management Appliance Software with vulnerable role configurations. The source bundle does not specify affected versions, CPEs, or deployment prerequisites beyond authenticated remote access and custom-role permissions.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or other evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires authenticated access and a custom role with specific permissions, reducing broad internet-scale risk but still creating privacy and compliance exposure.
Researcher notes
This maps to CWE-285 and a CVSS vector of AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N. Evidence is sufficient for the vulnerability class and impact, but incomplete for exact affected versions, fixed releases, and field exploitation status.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco advisory cisco-sa-20190904-sma-info-dis for affected and fixed SMA releases.
- Apply Cisco-recommended SMA updates or mitigations if your deployment is affected.
- Audit custom roles with spam quarantine or delegated email-management permissions.
- Restrict custom-role assignment to trusted administrators only.
- Monitor quarantine access logs for unexpected cross-user access patterns.
Validation and detection
- Inventory all Cisco SMA deployments and current software versions.
- Compare deployed versions and configurations against the Cisco advisory.
- Review custom roles for permissions related to spam quarantine access.
- Confirm affected roles cannot view other users' quarantine content after remediation.
- Check historical logs for unusual quarantine access by non-administrative accounts.
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
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ATT&CK lookup starting points
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CWE-285: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2019-12635 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 4.3 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
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 vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N2.81.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
4.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20190904 Cisco Content Security Management Appliance Information Disclosure VulnerabilityCVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_CISCO
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.
Improper Authorization
Improper Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.