# CVE-2018-15439: Cisco Small Business Switches Privileged Access Vulnerability > An unauthenticated remote attacker can bypass authentication using a hidden privileged account to execute commands with full admin rights on Cisco Small Business Switches. - **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:** 8 Nov 2018 - **Updated:** 26 Nov 2024 - **Also known as:** GHSA-3f6c-mv48-pf3v ## What is CVE-2018-15439? CVE-2018-15439 is a critical vulnerability in Cisco Small Business 300 Series Managed Switches, published on 8 Nov 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. ### Official description A vulnerability in the Cisco Small Business Switches software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass the user authentication mechanism of an affected device. The vulnerability exists because under specific circumstances, the affected software enables a privileged user account without notifying administrators of the system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using this account to log in to an affected device and execute commands with full admin rights. Cisco has not released software updates that address this vulnerability. This advisory will be updated with fixed software information once fixed software becomes available. There is a workaround to address this vulnerability. Weakness: CWE-798 (Use of Hard-coded Credentials) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-15439? It affects 114 products. Products: Cisco Sf200-24 Firmware, Cisco Sf200-24fp Firmware, Cisco Sf200-24p Firmware, Cisco Sf200-48 Firmware, Cisco Sf200-48p Firmware, Cisco Sf250-24 Firmware, Cisco Sf250-24p Firmware, Cisco Sf250-48 Firmware, Cisco Sf250-48hp Firmware, Cisco Sf300-08 Firmware, Cisco Sf300-24 Firmware, Cisco Sf300-24mp Firmware, Cisco Sf300-24p Firmware, Cisco Sf300-24pp Firmware, Cisco Sf300-48 Firmware, Cisco Sf300-48p Firmware, Cisco Sf300-48pp Firmware, Cisco Sf302-08 Firmware, Cisco Sf302-08mp Firmware, Cisco Sf302-08mpp Firmware and 94 more. ## How do I fix CVE-2018-15439? No fix has been published for CVE-2018-15439 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. ## Is CVE-2018-15439 being exploited? It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2018-15439 exists. Public exploit code: - Cisco Prime Infrastructure Runrshell Privilege Escalation (metasploit) ## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Small Business 300 Series Managed Switches - [CVE-2020-3363](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3363/): Cisco Small Business Smart and Managed Switches Denial of Service Vulnerability (high 8.6) - [CVE-2020-3297](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3297/): Cisco Small Business Smart and Managed Switches Session Management Vulnerability (high 8.1) - [CVE-2019-12636](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12636/): Cisco Small Business Smart and Managed Switches Cross-Site Request Forgery Vulnerability (high 8.1) - [CVE-2019-15993](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-15993/): Cisco Small Business Switches Information Disclosure Vulnerability (high 7.5) - [CVE-2019-1859](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1859/): Cisco Small Business Switches Secure Shell Certificate Authentication Bypass Vulnerability (high 7.2) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2018-15439 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2018-15439 is a critical vulnerability in Cisco Small Business 300 Series Managed Switches, published on 8 Nov 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2018-15439 exists. Affected product: Cisco Small Business 300 Series Managed Switches. 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-2018-15439/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15439/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-15439 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-15439 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-15439 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15439/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.