# CVE-2017-6748: Command injection in Cisco Web Security Appliance

> Authenticated local attackers can inject commands via the CLI parser to gain root privileges on Cisco Web Security Appliance devices.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.7 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 25 Jul 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-r5r7-8mwx-vxq9

## What is CVE-2017-6748?

CVE-2017-6748 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Web Security Appliance, published on 25 Jul 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the CLI parser of the Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform command injection and elevate privileges to root. The attacker must authenticate with valid operator-level or administrator-level credentials. Affected Products: virtual and hardware versions of Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA). More Information: CSCvd88855. Known Affected Releases: 10.1.0-204. Known Fixed Releases: 10.5.1-270 10.1.1-234.

Weakness: CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-6748?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cisco Web Security Appliance, Cisco Web Security Virtual Appliance.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-6748?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-6748 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-6748 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-6748 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Web Security Appliance

- [CVE-2015-6298](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6298/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2019-1817](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1817/): Cisco Web Security Appliance Malformed Request Denial of Service Vulnerability (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2018-0410](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0410/): Denial of service in AsyncOS Software for Cisco Web Security Appliances (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2015-6292](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6292/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2015-6293](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6293/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-6748 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-6748 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Web Security Appliance, published on 25 Jul 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-6748 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Web Security Appliance. 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-2017-6748/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6748/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-6748
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-6748
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-6748

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6748/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.