# CVE-2019-12649: Cisco IOS XE Software Digital Signature Verification Bypass Vulnerability

> An authenticated local attacker can bypass digital signature verification to install malicious images or execute unsigned binaries on Cisco IOS XE devices.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.7 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 25 Sep 2019
- **Updated:** 20 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-p6rv-q5px-g7g8

## What is CVE-2019-12649?

CVE-2019-12649 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios, published on 25 Sep 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the Image Verification feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to install and boot a malicious software image or execute unsigned binaries on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because, under certain circumstances, an affected device can be configured to not verify the digital signatures of system image files during the boot process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by abusing a specific feature that is part of the device boot process. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to install and boot a malicious software image or execute unsigned binaries on the targeted device.

Weakness: CWE-347 (Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-12649?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cisco Ios, Cisco Ios Xe.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-12649?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-12649 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-12649 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-12649 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-2019-12649 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-12649 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios, published on 25 Sep 2019. 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-2019-12649 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-2019-12649/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12649/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-12649
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-12649
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-12649

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12649/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.