Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- EPSS is 0.84% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2019
CVE-2019-1859High confidence
Cisco Small Business Switches Secure Shell Certificate Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
Cisco · Cisco Small Business 200 Series Smart Switches
Official source article: Cisco CISCO-SA-20190501-SCBV ↗. Check the applicable product and release in the original source.
7.2HighCVSS 3.1
Within 7 days
Fix not verifiedHigh technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityHigh→Operational priority:High, unchanged from published severity.unchanged
Compensating controls
- Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Cisco Cisco Small Business 200 Series Smart Switches and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
Fix not verified01
What, why and how
A vulnerability in the Secure Shell (SSH) authentication process of Cisco Small Business Switches software could allow an attacker to bypass client-side certificate authentication and revert to password authentication. The vulnerability exists because OpenSSH mishandles the authentication process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by attempting to connect to the device via SSH. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access the configuration as an administrative user if the default credentials are not changed. There are no workarounds available; however, if client-side certificate authentication is enabled, disable it and use strong password authentication. Client-side certificate authentication is disabled by default.
What
A vulnerability in the Secure Shell (SSH) authentication process of Cisco Small Business Switches software could allow an attacker to bypass client-side certificate authentication and revert to password authentication. The vulnerability exists because OpenSSH mishandles the authentication process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by attempting to connect to the device via SSH. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access the configuration as an administrative user if the default credentials are not changed. There are no workarounds available; however, if client-side certificate authentication is enabled, disable it and use strong password authentication. Client-side certificate authentication is disabled by default.
Why
The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
What
A vulnerability in the Secure Shell (SSH) authentication process of Cisco Small Business Switches software could allow an attacker to bypass client-side certificate authentication and revert to password authentication. The vulnerability exists because OpenSSH mishandles the authentication process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by attempting to connect to the device via SSH. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access the configuration as an administrative user if the default credentials are not changed. There are no workarounds available; however, if client-side certificate authentication is enabled, disable it and use strong password authentication. Client-side certificate authentication is disabled by default.
Why
The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation No confirmed evidence
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- a network path → Improper Authorization → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
- Attack surface
- Network
- Privileges required
- High: elevated access is required
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-285 ↗
CWE-285: Improper Authorization. The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRHighPrivileges required: The attacker needs elevated or administrative privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- Stolen credentials, tokens and legitimate administration functions may provide continued access without deploying a large custom toolset.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Fix not verified
- Affected
- Cisco Small Business 200 Series Smart Switches: unspecified < 1.4.10.6, unspecified < 2.5.0.78
- Fixed
- No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
- Action
- No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 3 May 2019 · Last source change 20 Nov 2024, 17:23 UTC · CWE-285 · Improper Authorization
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-01
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2019-10416
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
- ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2019-10416 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.ENISA EUVD ↗
- Before
- not recorded
- After
- {"euvdId":"EUVD-2019-10416"}
- CVSS scoreCVSS version changed from 3.0 to 3.1; the displayed base score remains 7.2.NIST NVD ↗
- Before
- 7.2 (CVSS 3.0 · CNA · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
- After
- 7.2 (CVSS 3.1 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
- Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.CNA ↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.