CVE-2019-15956: Cisco Web Security Appliance Unauthorized Device Reset Vulnerability

Severity: high (CVSS 8.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 1.0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2019-11-26 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-284

Description

A vulnerability in the web management interface of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to perform an unauthorized system reset on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper authorization controls for a specific URL in the web management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to an affected device. A successful exploit could have a twofold impact: the attacker could either change the administrator password, gaining privileged access, or reset the network configuration details, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition. In both scenarios, manual intervention is required to restore normal operations.

Affected products

Cisco Asyncos: from 10.1 before 10.1.5-004; from 10.5 before 11.5.3-016; from 11.7 before 11.7.1-006 — fixed in 10.1.5-004, 11.5.3-016, 11.7.1-006
Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA): 10.5.2-072, 11.5.1-fcs-125, 11.7.0-fcs-418

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Cisco Asyncos 10.1.5-004, 11.5.3-016, 11.7.1-006. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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