# CVE-2018-15427: Cisco Video Surveillance Manager Appliance Default Password Vulnerability

> Unauthenticated attackers can log in as root using default static credentials to execute arbitrary commands on Cisco Video Surveillance Manager appliances.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 5 Oct 2018
- **Updated:** 26 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-47wq-mxqc-399h

## What is CVE-2018-15427?

CVE-2018-15427 is a critical vulnerability in Cisco Video Surveillance Manager, published on 5 Oct 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in Cisco Video Surveillance Manager (VSM) Software running on certain Cisco Connected Safety and Security Unified Computing System (UCS) platforms could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to log in to an affected system by using the root account, which has default, static user credentials. The vulnerability is due to the presence of undocumented, default, static user credentials for the root account of the affected software on certain systems. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using the account to log in to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to log in to the affected system and execute arbitrary commands as the root user.

Weakness: CWE-798 (Use of Hard-coded Credentials)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-15427?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Video Surveillance Manager.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-15427?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-15427 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-15427 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-15427 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Video Surveillance Manager

- [CVE-2013-3430](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-3430/): Information disclosure in n/a (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2013-3429](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-3429/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2013-3431](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-3431/): Missing authorization in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2019-1717](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1717/): Cisco Video Surveillance Manager Web-Based Management Interface Information Disclosure Vulnerability (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-15427 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-15427 is a critical vulnerability in Cisco Video Surveillance Manager, published on 5 Oct 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-15427 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Video Surveillance 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-2018-15427/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15427/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-15427
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-15427
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-15427

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15427/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.