Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem has an API validation flaw that could let an unauthenticated remote attacker corrupt user account information. Business impact is loss of access to the licensing management web interface and possible administrator access according to the CVE description.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority if the product is deployed, especially if management access is exposed beyond trusted networks. The main risk is disruption to licensing administration and possible unauthorized administrator access.
Technical view
The issue is CWE-20 improper input validation in the Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem API. A crafted HTTP request can change or corrupt user account data. CVSS 3.0 is 8.2, with network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, low integrity impact, and high availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most relevant where Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem web or API access is reachable by untrusted networks. The bundle does not specify affected versions or CPEs, so teams must confirm deployed versions against Cisco's advisory.
Exploitation context
The provided sources describe remote unauthenticated exploitation by crafted HTTP request. The CVE is not marked KEV, and the bundle provides no evidence of active exploitation or public exploit availability.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE record and Cisco advisory reference in the bundle. The affected version range is unspecified here. Do not assume exploit status, fixed versions, or workarounds without reviewing Cisco's advisory directly.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem deployments and owners.
- Check Cisco's advisory for affected and fixed release guidance.
- Apply Cisco-recommended updates or workarounds where applicable.
- Limit web/API management access to trusted administrative networks.
- Monitor for unexpected account changes or web interface lockouts.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem is deployed.
- Determine whether web/API access is externally reachable.
- Compare installed versions with Cisco's advisory.
- Review logs for suspicious account modification activity.
- Verify administrators can still access the web interface.
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-20: 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-2019-16029 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
- High
- CVSS
- 8.2 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H3.94.2Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
8.2HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20200122 Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem Web Interface Denial of Service 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.
