# CVE-2017-12277: Command injection in Cisco Firepower 4100 Series NGFW and Firepower 9300 Security Appliance

> Authenticated attackers can inject arbitrary commands via Smart Licensing parameters to execute code with root privileges on Cisco Firepower appliances.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Nov 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7g3p-7vv6-j5pw

## What is CVE-2017-12277?

CVE-2017-12277 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System, published on 2 Nov 2017. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the Smart Licensing Manager service of the Cisco Firepower 4100 Series Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) and Firepower 9300 Security Appliance could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to inject arbitrary commands that could be executed with root privileges. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of certain Smart Licensing configuration parameters. An authenticated attacker could exploit the vulnerability by configuring a malicious URL within the affected feature. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges. This vulnerability affects the following Cisco Firepower Security products running FX-OS code trains 1.1.3, 1.1.4, and 2.0.1 (versions 2.1.1, 2.2.1, and 2.2.2 are not affected): Firepower 4100 Series Next-Generation Firewall and Firepower 9300 Security Appliance. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvb86863.

Weakness: CWE-77 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command), CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-12277?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-12277?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-12277 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-12277 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12277 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System

- [CVE-2018-0310](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0310/): Information disclosure in Cisco FXOS and NX-OS unknown (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-6435](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6435/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-1368](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1368/): Memory corruption in Cisco NX-OS Software (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-3456](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3456/): Cisco FXOS Software Firepower Chassis Manager Cross-Site Request Forgery Vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-3172](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3172/): Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Arbitrary Code Execution and Denial of Service Vulnerability (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-12277 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-12277 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System, published on 2 Nov 2017. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12277 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating 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-2017-12277/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12277/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-12277
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-12277
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-12277

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12277/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.