Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2019-1895 lets a remote unauthenticated attacker access an administrator's VNC console session on affected Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software. Successful access could let the attacker view or interact with the admin session, effectively reaching administrative control of the device.
Executive priority
Treat this as urgent for any organization operating Cisco NFVIS because compromise could give an unauthenticated remote attacker administrative device access. Priority depends on whether affected NFVIS systems and reachable VNC console paths exist in your environment.
Technical view
The issue is an insufficient authentication mechanism in the NFVIS VNC console session establishment flow. Cisco describes exploitation as intercepting an administrator VNC session request before login, enabling session observation or interaction. CVSS 3.0 is 9.8, with network attack vector, no privileges, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to environments running Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software with the affected VNC console implementation. The supplied sources do not specify affected versions, deployment defaults, or internet exposure patterns, so asset inventory and Cisco advisory matching are required.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not indicate CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Cisco's description requires the attacker to intercept an administrator VNC session request before login, then access the administrator console session. No exploit code or observed exploitation is cited in the supplied sources.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports a critical authentication bypass in Cisco NFVIS VNC console handling, classified as CWE-306. The provided data lacks fixed version details, workaround specifics, and exploitation telemetry, so validation should focus on advisory applicability, VNC console reachability, and administrative session monitoring.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco's advisory for affected releases and vendor-supported fixes or workarounds.
- Inventory Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software deployments and identify VNC console use.
- Restrict management-plane and VNC console access to trusted administrative networks.
- Reduce unnecessary VNC console exposure until vendor guidance is applied.
- Monitor administrator VNC console sessions for unexpected access or interaction.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether any NFVIS deployments exist in the environment.
- Map deployed NFVIS versions against Cisco's advisory applicability information.
- Verify VNC console access is not reachable from untrusted networks.
- Review administrative session logs for suspicious VNC console activity.
- Confirm remediation status against Cisco's published advisory guidance.
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-306: 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-2019-1895 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
- 9.8 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H3.95.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
9.8CriticalVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20190807 Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software VNC 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.
Missing Authentication for Critical Function
Missing Authentication for Critical Function represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.