Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw lets a legitimate low-privileged user access a Cisco IOx Guest OS area that should be limited to administrators. If exposed, that user could become root inside the Guest OS, creating high business risk for affected network devices.
Executive priority
Treat this as urgent for affected Cisco IOS IOx environments because it can convert a low-privileged account into root access on the Guest OS.
Technical view
CVE-2019-12648 is an RBAC evaluation failure in the IOx application environment for Cisco IOS Software. An authenticated remote attacker with low privileges can authenticate to a restricted Guest OS and gain root access. The CVSS v3.0 score is 9.9 with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to affected Cisco IOS deployments running the IOx application environment and Guest OS. The bundle identifies Cisco IOS 15.7(3)M, but does not provide complete affected-version detail.
Exploitation context
The attacker must authenticate remotely with low-privileged credentials. The provided bundle does not cite active exploitation, and KEV status is false. Successful exploitation could give root access to the Guest OS.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports an authenticated remote privilege bypass caused by incorrect RBAC evaluation. The bundle does not include full platform coverage, exploit availability, or named fixed releases, so validation should anchor on Cisco’s advisory.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco advisory for fixed software and official workarounds.
- Inventory Cisco IOS devices using IOx and Guest OS features.
- Prioritize remediation where low-privileged users can reach Guest OS authentication.
- Restrict Guest OS and management access to trusted administrative networks.
- Remove unnecessary low-privileged accounts where operationally safe.
Validation and detection
- Identify Cisco IOS devices running version 15.7(3)M or other Cisco-listed affected releases.
- Confirm whether IOx and Guest OS functionality are enabled.
- Review user roles for low-privileged accounts with Guest OS access paths.
- Check Cisco advisory status for the exact platform and software train.
- Review logs for unexpected Guest OS authentication by non-admin users.
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.
CWE-284: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. 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-2019-12648 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
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.9 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
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:C/C:H/I:H/A:H3.16Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
9.9CriticalVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20190925 Cisco IOx for IOS Software Guest Operating System Unauthorized Access 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 Access Control
Improper Access Control represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.