CVE-2019-1983
highpriority · track · 22EPSS 0.019 · 79 %ileEURUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
A vulnerability in the email message filtering feature of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause repeated crashes in some internal processes that are running on the affected devices, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of email attachments. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending an email message with a crafted attachment through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause specific processes to crash repeatedly, resulting in the complete unavailability of both the Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) and message tracking features and in severe performance degradation while processing email. After the affected processes restart, the software resumes filtering for the same attachment, causing the affected processes to crash and restart again. A successful exploit could also allow the attacker to cause a repeated DoS condition. Manual intervention may be required to recover from this situation.
remediations
Vendor fix, mitigation, or workaround guidance, as published by each source.
A vendor fix is available.
- FixedCisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA)cisco_csaf
Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability.
https://software.cisco.com - FixedCisco Email Security Appliance (ESA)cisco_csaf
Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability.
https://software.cisco.com
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · medium–high · 4.9–7.8
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (14)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
- cisco content security management appliance= 11.4.0-812nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:content_security_management_appliance:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
- cisco email security appliance= 11.0.1-hp5-602nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:email_security_appliance:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
- cisco email security appliance= 11.1.0-404nvdUScpe:2.3:a:cisco:email_security_appliance:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
advisories (1)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- cisco-sa-20200219-esa-sma-dosCisco Email Security Appliance and Cisco Content Security Management Appliance Denial of Service Vulnerability2020-02-19csaf · cisco_csafUS
A vulnerability in the email message filtering feature of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause repeated crashes in some internal processes that are running on the affected devices, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of email attachments. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending an email message with a crafted attachment through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause specific processes to crash repeatedly, resulting in the complete unavailability of both the Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) and message tracking features and in severe performance degradation while processing email. After the affected processes restart, the software resumes filtering for the same attachment, causing the affected processes to crash and restart again. A successful exploit could also allow the attacker to cause a repeated DoS condition. Manual intervention may be required to recover from this situation. Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability. This advisory is available at the following link: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20200219-esa-sma-dos ["https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20200219-esa-sma-dos"]
also known as (4)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
sources
Which sources assert this record, and when.
references (5)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20200219-esa-sma-doscnnvd
- https://vigilance.fr/vulnerability/Cisco-ESA-CSMA-denial-of-service-via-Email-Attachments-31639cnnvd
- https://www.auscert.org.au/bulletins/ESB-2020.0614/cnnvd
- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20200219-esa-sma-dosenisa_euvd
- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20200219-esa-sma-dosVendor Advisorynvd
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