Analyst readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2019-1984 affects Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software. An attacker who already has administrator privileges could remotely cause NFVIS to overwrite files on the device’s underlying operating system. This is not an unauthenticated internet takeover, but it can turn compromised or misused NFVIS admin access into serious integrity and availability impact.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate infrastructure risk. It is not described as actively exploited or unauthenticated, but it affects network virtualization infrastructure and can damage system integrity or availability if an admin account is compromised or misused.
Technical view
The issue is improper input validation in an NFVIS file-system command. By supplying crafted variables during execution of the affected command, an authenticated remote attacker with administrator privileges could overwrite arbitrary OS files. CVSS 3.0 is 6.5: network attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction, high integrity and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to environments running Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software. The source bundle does not identify affected version ranges, so teams need to compare deployed NFVIS versions against Cisco’s advisory. Risk increases where NFVIS administrator access is broadly available or management interfaces are reachable from less-trusted networks.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or cited active exploitation. Exploitation requires remote access plus NFVIS administrator privileges. The concern is post-authentication abuse, especially after credential compromise, excessive admin delegation, or weak management-plane segmentation.
Researcher notes
This is CWE-20 improper input validation with arbitrary file overwrite impact on the underlying OS. The source bundle lacks affected version ranges and fix details. Analysis should focus on NFVIS command handling, admin-role exposure, management-plane access, and vendor advisory reconciliation.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco’s advisory for affected and fixed NFVIS release guidance.
- Restrict NFVIS administrative access to trusted management networks only.
- Audit NFVIS administrator accounts and remove unnecessary privileges.
- Monitor for unexpected changes to underlying OS files.
- Check vendor guidance before applying compensating controls.
Validation and detection
- Inventory all Cisco Enterprise NFVIS deployments.
- Compare deployed versions against Cisco’s advisory.
- Confirm NFVIS admin interfaces are not broadly reachable.
- Review admin access logs for unusual file-system command activity.
- Check integrity monitoring for unexpected OS file overwrites.
Public sources used
Based on public source material and reviewed before publication.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
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ATT&CK lookup starting points
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CWE-20: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupFile access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2019-1984 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.5 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H1.25.2Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
6.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20190821 Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure Software Arbitrary File Write 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 Input Validation
Improper Input Validation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.