Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This Cisco Unified Communications Manager issue lets an unauthenticated remote attacker abuse XML processing in the web interface. Successful exploitation could read local files containing sensitive data or exhaust resources enough to disrupt service. The bundle does not identify specific affected versions or fixed releases.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate operational and data-exposure risk. Prioritize systems supporting voice communications, emergency calling, or externally reachable administration paths. The main decision is rapid inventory and vendor-guided remediation, not emergency response absent exploitation evidence.
Technical view
CVE-2019-12711 is a CWE-611 XML External Entity issue in Cisco Unified Communications Manager and SME. Improper XML entity restrictions allow malicious XML entity references through the web interface, potentially causing local file disclosure or denial of service. CVSS v3.0 is 6.1.
Likely exposure
Organizations running Cisco Unified Communications Manager or Session Management Edition with reachable web-based interfaces may be exposed. The provided affected-version data is unspecified, so version validation must use Cisco’s advisory or vendor inventory records.
Exploitation context
The source bundle marks KEV as false and provides no evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability is remotely reachable and unauthenticated, but rated medium with low confidentiality and availability impact, no integrity impact, and user interaction in the CVSS vector.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE description, CVSS vector, CWE-611 classification, and Cisco advisory reference. Do not assume affected versions, exploit availability, or fixed release numbers from this bundle alone. Validate against Cisco’s advisory before declaring exposure or closure.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco advisory for affected releases and fixed software guidance.
- Identify all Cisco Unified Communications Manager and SME deployments.
- Restrict web interface access to trusted administrative networks where feasible.
- Monitor affected systems for resource exhaustion or unusual XML request patterns.
- Prioritize remediation for internet-reachable or broadly reachable CUCM interfaces.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether CUCM or SME is deployed in the environment.
- Compare deployed versions against Cisco’s advisory, not only asset names.
- Verify administrative web interfaces are not exposed to untrusted networks.
- Review logs for suspicious XML parsing errors or unexplained service degradation.
- Document whether compensating controls reduce exposure before patching.
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-611: 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-2019-12711 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
- 6.1 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:L
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:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:L2.82.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
6.1MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20191002 Cisco Unified Communications Manager XML External Expansion 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 Restriction of XML External Entity Reference
Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.