# CVE-2019-12661: Cisco IOS XE Software Virtualization Manager CLI Command Injection Vulnerability

> An authenticated local attacker with admin access can execute arbitrary root commands on Cisco IOS XE devices via insufficient validation in a VMAN CLI command.

- **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-8xwh-p7g5-63f6

## What is CVE-2019-12661?

CVE-2019-12661 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, 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 a Virtualization Manager (VMAN) related CLI command of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying Linux operating system with a privilege level of root. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to a specific VMAN CLI command on the affected device. An attacker who has administrator access to an affected device could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the device with root privileges, which may lead to complete system compromise.

Weakness: CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command), CWE-77 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-12661?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios Xe.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-12661?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-12661 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-12661 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-12661 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios Xe

- [CVE-2023-20198](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20198/): Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-0151](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0151/): Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software Quality of Service Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-20273](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20273/): Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection (high 7.2, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-20188](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20188/): Hardcoded credentials in Cisco IOS XE Software (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-34770](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-34770/): Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9000 Family Wireless Controllers CAPWAP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-12661 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-12661 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, 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-2019-12661 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Ios Xe. 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-2019-12661/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12661/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-12661
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-12661
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-12661

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12661/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.