# CVE-2018-0440: Cisco Data Center Network Manager Privilege Escalation to Underlying Operating System Vulnerability

> Authenticated administrators can execute arbitrary OS commands with root privileges via crafted HTTP requests in Cisco Data Center Network Manager.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 5 Oct 2018
- **Updated:** 26 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7m6x-r79m-jgqx

## What is CVE-2018-0440?

CVE-2018-0440 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Data Center Network Manager, published on 5 Oct 2018. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the web interface of Cisco Data Center Network Manager could allow an authenticated application administrator to execute commands on the underlying operating system with root-level privileges. The vulnerability is due to incomplete input validation of user input within an HTTP request. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the application and then sending a crafted HTTP request to the targeted application. A successful exploit could allow the authenticated attacker to issue commands on the underlying operating system as the root user.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation), CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-0440?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Data Center Network Manager.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-0440?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-0440 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-0440 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-0440 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Data Center Network Manager

- [CVE-2020-3382](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3382/): Cisco Data Center Network Manager Authentication Bypass Vulnerability (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-15975](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-15975/): Cisco Data Center Network Manager Authentication Bypass Vulnerabilities (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-15976](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-15976/): Cisco Data Center Network Manager Authentication Bypass Vulnerabilities (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-15977](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-15977/): Cisco Data Center Network Manager Authentication Bypass Vulnerabilities (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-1619](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1619/): Cisco Data Center Network Manager Authentication Bypass Vulnerability (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-0440 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-0440 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Data Center Network Manager, published on 5 Oct 2018. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-0440 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Data Center Network Manager. 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-2018-0440/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0440/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-0440
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-0440
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-0440

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0440/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.