CVE-2017-12340
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS System Software running on Cisco MDS Multilayer Director Switches,...
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS System Software running on Cisco MDS Multilayer Director Switches, Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches, and Cisco Nexus 7700 Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access the Bash shell of an affected device's operating system, even if the Bash shell is disabled on the system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied parameters that are passed to certain functions of the Python scripting sandbox of the affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to escape the scripting sandbox and enter the Bash shell of the operating system with the privileges of the authenticated user for the affected system. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have local access to the affected system and be authenticated to the affected system with administrative or Python execution privileges. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvd86513.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- High
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
4.2
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS System Software running on Cisco MDS Multilayer Director Switches, Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches, and Cisco Nexus 7700 Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access the Bash shell of an affected device's operating system, even if the Bash shell is disabled on the system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied parameters that are passed to certain functions of the Python scripting sandbox of the affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to escape the scripting sandbox and enter the Bash shell of the operating system with the privileges of the authenticated user for the affected system. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have local access to the affected system and be authenticated to the affected system with administrative or Python execution privileges. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvd86513.
- Record
CVE-2017-12340- CVSS 3.0
- 4.2 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - CVSS 2.0
- 4.6 Medium
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-284, CWE-116
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS System Software running on Cisco MDS Multilayer Director Switches, Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches, and Cisco Nexus 7700 Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access the Bash shell of an affected device's operating system, even if the Bash shell is disabled on the system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied parameters that are passed to certain functions of the Python scripting sandbox of the affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to escape the scripting sandbox and enter the Bash shell of the operating system with the privileges of the authenticated user for the affected system. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have local access to the affected system and be authenticated to the affected system with administrative or Python execution privileges. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvd86513.
- Record
CVE-2017-12340- Weakness
- CWE-284
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2017-3913 No score
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS System Software running on Cisco MDS Multilayer Director Switches, Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches, and Cisco Nexus 7700 Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access the Bash shell of an affected device's operating system, even if the Bash shell is disabled on the system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied parameters that are passed to certain functions of the Python scripting sandbox of the affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to escape the scripting sandbox and enter the Bash shell of the operating system with the privileges of the authenticated user for the affected system. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have local access to the affected system and be authenticated to the affected system with administrative or Python execution privileges. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvd86513.
- Record
EUVD-2017-3913- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-7fgx-h5gw-66x7
4.2
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS System Software running on Cisco MDS Multilayer Director Switches,...
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS System Software running on Cisco MDS Multilayer Director Switches, Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches, and Cisco Nexus 7700 Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access the Bash shell of an affected device's operating system, even if the Bash shell is disabled on the system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied parameters that are passed to certain functions of the Python scripting sandbox of the affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to escape the scripting sandbox and enter the Bash shell of the operating system with the privileges of the authenticated user for the affected system. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have local access to the affected system and be authenticated to the affected system with administrative or Python execution privileges. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvd86513.
- Record
GHSA-7fgx-h5gw-66x7- CVSS 3.0
- 4.2 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-116, CWE-284
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2017-12340 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.2) in Cisco Nx-os, published November 30, 2017. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.34%, the 27th percentile. No source names a fixed version.