Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Cisco Elastic Services Controller had a critical REST API authentication bypass. If an affected system’s API is reachable, an unauthenticated remote attacker could act with administrative privileges. The provided sources do not identify affected version details or confirm active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat reachable Cisco ESC instances as urgent because successful exploitation could give administrative control over a service orchestration platform. Prioritize confirming exposure, checking Cisco guidance, and reducing API reachability while remediation is planned.
Technical view
CVE-2019-1867 is a CWE-287 authentication bypass in Cisco ESC’s REST API caused by improper API request validation. The CVSS 3.0 score is 10.0, with network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, changed scope, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where Cisco Elastic Services Controller is deployed and its REST API is reachable from untrusted networks. The source bundle lists Cisco ESC but does not provide specific affected or fixed versions.
Exploitation context
The source bundle says exploitation requires a crafted REST API request and can result in administrative actions. It is not marked KEV, and no provided source confirms active exploitation or public exploit availability.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE metadata and Cisco advisory reference in the bundle. Version ranges and fix details are unspecified here, so validation should focus on confirming product presence, API exposure, and advisory applicability before drawing conclusions.
Mitigation direction
- Check Cisco’s advisory for exact affected and fixed ESC releases.
- Upgrade or apply vendor-recommended fixes where Cisco guidance applies.
- Restrict ESC REST API access to trusted management networks only.
- Place administrative interfaces behind strong network controls and monitoring.
- Review ESC administrative API activity for unauthorized changes.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco Elastic Services Controller deployments and exposed REST API endpoints.
- Confirm running ESC versions against Cisco’s advisory.
- Verify REST API access is blocked from untrusted networks.
- Review logs for unauthenticated or unexpected administrative API actions.
- Document remediation status and any compensating controls.
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-287: Credential and account abuse lookup
Authentication and credential weaknesses can make valid-account abuse and credential telemetry useful review starting points. 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 lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2019-1867 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
- 10 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H3.96Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
10CriticalVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20190507 Cisco Elastic Services Controller REST API Authentication Bypass 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 Authentication
Improper Authentication represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.