Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This issue lets a valid administrator on a Cisco Remote PHY device run operating-system commands as root through crafted CLI arguments. It is serious for devices with shared or weakly controlled admin access, but exposure is constrained by local access and high privileges.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority infrastructure hardening item. The impact is full device compromise, but the attacker must already hold high-privilege local administrative access.
Technical view
CVE-2019-1839 is an input-sanitization flaw in Cisco Remote PHY Device Software. Crafted CLI arguments can trigger command injection into the underlying Linux shell, yielding root-level command execution. CVSS v3.0 is 6.7 with local attack vector and high privileges required.
Likely exposure
Exposure appears limited to Cisco Remote PHY deployments where administrators can access affected device CLI locally. The source bundle does not specify affected versions or CPEs.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation requires valid administrator access and local interaction with the affected device CLI.
Researcher notes
The key uncertainty is version scope: the source bundle lists Cisco Remote PHY with unspecified versions. Validate directly against the Cisco advisory before declaring exposure or closure. Do not assume internet-reachable exploitation from the available evidence.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco advisory cisco-sa-20190821-rphy for affected releases and fixed software guidance.
- Upgrade affected Cisco Remote PHY software according to Cisco guidance.
- Restrict administrator access to trusted operators and managed administration paths.
- Review and remove unnecessary local administrator accounts on Remote PHY devices.
- Monitor administrative sessions for unusual configuration or shell-related activity.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco Remote PHY devices and map software versions against Cisco advisory guidance.
- Confirm whether local CLI administrator access is restricted and individually attributable.
- Review administrative account lists for shared, stale, or excessive privileges.
- Check device logs for unusual administrator CLI activity around sensitive operations.
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
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CWE-20: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2019-1839 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.7 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/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:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H0.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
6.7MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20190821 Cisco Remote PHY Device Software Command Injection 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.