# CVE-2019-12648: Cisco IOx for IOS Software Guest Operating System Unauthorized Access Vulnerability

> Authenticated low-privileged users can bypass RBAC to gain root access to the Guest OS in Cisco IOx environments.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.9 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 25 Sep 2019
- **Updated:** 20 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hfqm-f33h-w94m

## What is CVE-2019-12648?

CVE-2019-12648 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Cisco Ios, published on 25 Sep 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the IOx application environment for Cisco IOS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to gain unauthorized access to the Guest Operating System (Guest OS) running on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to incorrect role-based access control (RBAC) evaluation when a low-privileged user requests access to a Guest OS that should be restricted to administrative accounts. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the Guest OS by using the low-privileged-user credentials. An exploit could allow the attacker to gain unauthorized access to the Guest OS as a root user.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization), CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-12648?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-12648?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-12648 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-12648 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-12648 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios

- [CVE-2017-12240](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12240/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software DHCP Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-3881](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-3881/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-0167](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0167/): Cisco IOS, XR, and XE Software Buffer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-6736](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6736/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software SNMP Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-6737](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6737/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software SNMP Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-12648 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-12648 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Cisco Ios, published on 25 Sep 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-12648 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Ios. 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-2019-12648/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12648/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-12648
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-12648
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-12648

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12648/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.