CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2017-12331 — Cisco Nx-Os security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.2

A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS System Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to bypass signature verification when loading a software patch. The vulnerability is due to insufficient NX-OS signature verification for software patches. An authenticated, local attacker could exploit this vulnerability to bypass signature verification and load a crafted, unsigned software patch on a targeted device. The attacker would need valid administrator credentials to perform this exploit. This vulnerability affects the following products running Cisco NX-OS System Software: Multilayer Director Switches, Nexus 7000 Series Switches, Nexus 7700 Series Switches, Unified Computing System Manager. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvf16494, CSCvf23655.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.2 (2.0)
Published
2017-11-30
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-347

Affected products

  • cisco / nx-os / 8.1(1)
  • cisco / unified_computing_system / 7.0(0)hsk(0.357)

Matched remediation archetype

Cryptography, certificate, signature, and channel validation

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Check exposure

  • Inventory affected algorithms, key uses, trust stores, certificate validation settings, random sources, and plaintext channels across clients and services.
  • Determine which secrets, identities, signatures, or data protections depend on the affected primitive or validation path.
  • Check debug, compatibility, fallback, and hostname or audience override settings in build and runtime configuration.

Remediate safely

  • Use a maintained platform cryptographic API with approved algorithms, modes, parameters, randomness, and full peer identity validation.
  • Remove insecure fallback and validation bypasses; separate keys by purpose and load them from managed secret storage.
  • Plan rotation or reissuance for affected keys, certificates, tokens, hashes, or ciphertext and document compatibility sequencing.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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