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

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.

Published: 2019-11-25 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2019-15956 is rated Moderate Risk (56.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.98%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-15956

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.19% 0.98% +0.79%
2 2025-11-21 0.11% 0.19% +0.08%
3 2025-11-18 0.11%

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-15956

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 5.9 [email protected]
8.8 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 5.9 [email protected]
6.5 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
8.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-15956

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-15956

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco asyncos >= 10.1, < 10.1.5-004 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:asyncos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco asyncos >= 10.5, < 11.5.3-016 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:asyncos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco asyncos >= 11.7, < 11.7.1-006 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:asyncos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco web_security_appliance 10.5.2-072 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:web_security_appliance:10.5.2-072:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco web_security_appliance 11.5.1-fcs-125 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:web_security_appliance:11.5.1-fcs-125:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco web_security_appliance 11.7.0-fcs-418 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:web_security_appliance:11.7.0-fcs-418:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-15956

cvelogic Threat Intelligence