# CVE-2012-4072: Hardcoded credentials in n/a

> Man-in-the-middle attackers can spoof SSL servers and read keyboard/mouse events in Cisco UCS KVM due to a hardcoded X.509 certificate.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Sep 2013
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-ph23-3mhm-w392

## What is CVE-2012-4072?

CVE-2012-4072 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Unified Computing System, published on 20 Sep 2013. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The KVM subsystem in Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) relies on a hardcoded X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers, and read keyboard and mouse events, by leveraging knowledge of this certificate's private key, aka Bug ID CSCte90327.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-4072?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Unified Computing System.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-4072?

No fix has been published for CVE-2012-4072 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2012-4072 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-4072 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Unified Computing System

- [CVE-2026-20200](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20200/): Cisco Integrated Management Controller Argument Injection and Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-20094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20094/): Cisco Integrated Management Controller Command Injection Vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-0430](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0430/): Cisco Integrated Management Controller Command Injection Vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-0431](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0431/): Cisco Integrated Management Controller Command Injection Vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2012-4078](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4078/): Auth bypass in n/a (high 8.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-4072 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-4072 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Unified Computing System, published on 20 Sep 2013. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-4072 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Unified Computing System. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4072/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4072/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-4072
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-4072
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-4072

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4072/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.