Skip to content
Noroxi
CVE-2018-15439· NVD / CVE Program· CNA cisco

Cisco Small Business Switches Privileged Access Vulnerability

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.

CriticalCVSS 9.8 · v3.1—Weaponized No fix recorded
Published
Nov 8, 2018
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
49.7% · 99th percentile
Follow this CVE

Sign in to follow · You’ll be notified if a followed record enters KEV, gets an exploit or is updated.

Report tools

JSON

Action score

54

Plan

Add it to your regular patch cycle.

CVSS
39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
15 / 30 · 49.7%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
9.8
CNA · cisco
9.8
agree

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Affected systems

VendorProduct
ciscosg200-50 firmware
ciscosg200-50
ciscosg200-50p firmware
ciscosg200-50p
ciscosg200-50fp firmware
ciscosg200-50fp
ciscosg200-26 firmware
ciscosg200-26
ciscosg200-26p firmware
ciscosg200-26p
ciscosg200-26fp firmware
ciscosg200-26fp

and 188 more

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • cisco sf200-24 firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf200-24fp firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf200-24p firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf200-48 firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf200-48p firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf250-24 firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf250-24p firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf250-48 firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf250-48hp firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf300-08 firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf300-24 firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf300-24mp firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf300-24p firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf300-24pp firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf300-48 firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf300-48p firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf300-48pp firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf302-08 firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf302-08mp firmwareall versions
  • cisco sf302-08mpp firmwareall versions

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (cisco). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Cisco Cisco Small Business 300 Series Managed Switches

    • n/aaffected

Same product

cisco: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2020-3147Cisco Small Business Switches Denial of Service Vulnerability
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2019-1859Cisco Small Business Switches Secure Shell Certificate Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
    28Monitor
  • CVE-2019-1943Cisco Small Business Series Switches Open Redirect Vulnerability
    27Monitor
  • CVE-2020-3496Cisco Small Business Smart and Managed Switches Denial of Service Vulnerability
    22Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

Evidence

  • Metasploit module ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Metasploit moduleexploit/linux/local/cpi_runrshell_priv_escCisco Prime Infrastructure Runrshell Privilege Escalationexploit2018-12-08

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. Published
  2. Metasploit+29 d
  3. TodaySep 30, 2026+2883 d
EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-798 · Use of Hard-coded Credentials

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

For convenience in support or manufacturing, an account that is identical on every device is embedded in the software. Credentials learned from one device work on all of them.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-798 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
const SUPPORT_USER = "support";const SUPPORT_PASS = "hardcoded-password";

Fixed

ts
const creds = await provisioning.deviceCredentials(deviceId);if (creds.mustRotate) await forcePasswordChange(deviceId);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records