Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2019-1972 affects Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software. A trusted administrator using the restricted CLI could break out to the underlying operating system and run commands as root. This is not a remote internet drive-by issue, but it can turn an already privileged account into full system control.
Executive priority
Treat as a targeted privilege-escalation risk, not an emergency internet-scale exposure. Prioritize confirmation and remediation for NFVIS systems supporting sensitive network services, especially where many administrators, shared accounts, or weak access controls exist.
Technical view
The issue is an insufficient restriction in an affected NFVIS restricted CLI command. Cisco describes a local, authenticated attacker with valid administrator-level credentials elevating privileges and executing arbitrary operating-system commands as root. CVSS 3.0 is 6.7: local attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to environments running Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software where users or automation have administrator-level restricted CLI access. The source bundle does not identify specific vulnerable or fixed versions, so asset owners must confirm applicability against Cisco's advisory and local NFVIS inventory.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or other evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires local authenticated administrator-level access, which lowers likelihood but raises insider, credential misuse, and post-compromise escalation risk.
Researcher notes
Evidence is clear on impact and prerequisites, but incomplete on affected versions, fixed versions, affected command details, workarounds, and exploit status. Avoid assuming exploitability beyond Cisco's described authenticated local administrator scenario.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco's advisory for affected and fixed NFVIS release guidance.
- Inventory NFVIS deployments and map all administrator-level CLI users.
- Restrict administrator CLI access to trusted operators and managed jump paths.
- Audit recent administrator activity on affected NFVIS systems.
- Monitor Cisco guidance for workarounds, fixed releases, and operational notes.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software is deployed.
- Compare installed NFVIS versions against Cisco's advisory.
- Review privileged CLI account assignments and authentication logs.
- Check whether administrator access is locally reachable from untrusted networks.
- Document whether remediation followed Cisco's published 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
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CWE-264: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2019-1972 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
- 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
- 20190807 Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software Privilege Escalation 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.
Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls
Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.