# CVE-2018-0095: Privilege escalation in Cisco Email Security and Content Security Management Appliance

> An authenticated local attacker can escalate privileges to root on Cisco ESA and SMA devices by issuing crafted commands in the administrative shell.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 Jan 2018
- **Updated:** 2 Dec 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-24rf-59x9-98x7

## What is CVE-2018-0095?

CVE-2018-0095 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Asyncos, published on 18 Jan 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the administrative shell of Cisco AsyncOS on Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Content Security Management Appliance (SMA) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escalate their privilege level and gain root access. The attacker has to have a valid user credential with at least a privilege level of a guest user. The vulnerability is due to an incorrect networking configuration at the administrative shell CLI. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the targeted device and issuing a set of crafted, malicious commands at the administrative shell. An exploit could allow the attacker to gain root access on the device. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvb34303, CSCvb35726.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-0095?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Asyncos.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-0095?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-0095 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-0095 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-0095 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Asyncos

- [CVE-2025-20393](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20393/): Cisco Multiple Products Improper Input Validation (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-76519](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76519/): Cisco Secure Email Gateway Relative Path Traversal (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-76461](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76461/): Cisco Secure Email Gateway SQL Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-20435](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20435/): Command injection in Cisco Secure Web Appliance (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-15956](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-15956/): Cisco Web Security Appliance Unauthorized Device Reset Vulnerability (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-0095 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-0095 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Asyncos, published on 18 Jan 2018. 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-2018-0095 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Asyncos. 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-2018-0095/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0095/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-0095
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-0095
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-0095

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0095/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.