A vulnerability in the external authentication functionality of Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager, formerly known as Cisco Security Management Appliance (SMA), and Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and log in to the web management interface of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper authentication checks when an affected device uses Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for external authentication. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by entering a specific input on the login page of the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain unauthorized access to the web-based management interface of the affected device.
This vulnerability carries a CRITICAL severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 2 products from cisco, from cisco organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2022, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2022-06-15T18:15:08.927
2024-11-21T06:43:34.657
Modified
CVSSv3.1: 9.8 (CRITICAL)
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
8.6
6.4
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | cisco | email_security_appliance | < 14.0.1-033 | Yes |
| Application | cisco | email_security_appliance | 7.1.5 | Yes |
| Application | cisco | secure_email_and_web_manager | < 13.0.0-277 | Yes |
| Application | cisco | secure_email_and_web_manager | < 13.6.2-090 | Yes |
| Application | cisco | secure_email_and_web_manager | < 13.8.1-090 | Yes |
| Application | cisco | secure_email_and_web_manager | < 14.0.0-418 | Yes |
| Application | cisco | secure_email_and_web_manager | < 14.1.0-250 | Yes |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For cisco's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.