Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2019-1883 lets a low-privileged, authenticated CLI user on affected Cisco IMC devices turn read-only access into root-level control. This is not an internet-drive-by issue, but it is serious where shared, delegated, or weakly governed management access exists.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority for environments with Cisco UCS E-Series management access delegated beyond core infrastructure administrators. The business risk is privilege escalation to root on management hardware, but urgency depends on whether untrusted or broadly shared CLI accounts exist.
Technical view
The flaw is CWE-78 command injection in the Cisco Integrated Management Controller CLI. Insufficient input validation in affected commands allows an authenticated local attacker with read-only credentials to submit crafted input and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges. CVSS is 7.0, with local access, high complexity, low privileges, no user interaction, and high CIA impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to affected Cisco Unified Computing System E-Series Software environments where users can authenticate to the IMC CLI with read-only privileges. The source bundle does not identify exact affected versions, so version validation must use Cisco’s advisory.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked KEV. Exploitation requires authenticated local CLI access, read-only privileges, and high attack complexity. Successful exploitation would provide root privileges on the device.
Researcher notes
Evidence is sufficient for vulnerability class, impact, privileges, and affected product family, but incomplete for exact versions and remediation details in the supplied bundle. Avoid assuming network reachability or exploitation in the wild without additional cited evidence.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco’s advisory for fixed releases and upgrade guidance.
- Restrict IMC CLI access to trusted administrative users only.
- Remove unnecessary read-only CLI accounts from affected devices.
- Use strong authentication and account review for management access.
- Monitor management logs for unusual CLI activity.
- Contact Cisco support if version or fix status is unclear.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco UCS E-Series Software devices using IMC.
- Compare installed versions against Cisco advisory guidance.
- Review who has read-only CLI credentials on affected devices.
- Check management logs for suspicious CLI sessions or command errors.
- Confirm remediation by documenting patched or non-affected status.
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-78: Command execution behavior lookup
Command injection weaknesses can lead defenders to review execution techniques and command interpreter telemetry. 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 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-2019-1883 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
- 7 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/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:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H15.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
7HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20190821 Cisco Integrated Management Controller CLI 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.