CVE-2018-15381
Cisco Unity Express Arbitrary Command Execution Vulnerability
A Java deserialization vulnerability in Cisco Unity Express (CUE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of the root user. The vulnerability is due to insecure deserialization of user-supplied content by the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious serialized Java object to the listening Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) service. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the device with root privileges.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Cisco Unity Express Arbitrary Command Execution Vulnerability
A Java deserialization vulnerability in Cisco Unity Express (CUE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of the root user. The vulnerability is due to insecure deserialization of user-supplied content by the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious serialized Java object to the listening Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) service. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the device with root privileges.
- Record
CVE-2018-15381- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-502
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2018-7259
A Java deserialization vulnerability in Cisco Unity Express (CUE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of the root user. The vulnerability is due to insecure deserialization of user-supplied content by the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious serialized Java object to the listening Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) service. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the device with root privileges.
- Record
EUVD-2018-7259- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-8wm8-7pxp-g9m4
A Java deserialization vulnerability in Cisco Unity Express (CUE) could allow an unauthenticated,...
A Java deserialization vulnerability in Cisco Unity Express (CUE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of the root user. The vulnerability is due to insecure deserialization of user-supplied content by the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious serialized Java object to the listening Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) service. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the device with root privileges.
- Record
GHSA-8wm8-7pxp-g9m4- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-502
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
A Java deserialization vulnerability in Cisco Unity Express (CUE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of the root user. The vulnerability is due to insecure deserialization of user-supplied content by the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious serialized Java object to the listening Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) service. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the device with root privileges.
- Record
CVE-2018-15381- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 10.0 High
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-502
- 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-2018-15381 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Cisco Unity Express, published November 8, 2018. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 87.3%, the 99th percentile. No source names a fixed version.