Vulnerability Database

346,508

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2019-1965 — cisco / nx-os

Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime

A vulnerability in the Virtual Shell (VSH) session management for Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a VSH process to fail to delete upon termination. This can lead to a build-up of VSH processes that overtime can deplete system memory. When there is no system memory available, this can cause unexpected system behaviors and crashes. The vulnerability is due to the VSH process not being properly deleted when a remote management connection to the device is disconnected. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by repeatedly performing a remote management connection to the device and terminating the connection in an unexpected manner. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the VSH processes to fail to delete, which can lead to a system-wide denial of service (DoS) condition. The attacker must have valid user credentials to log in to the device using the remote management connection.

  • Published: Aug 28, 2019
  • Updated: Nov 9, 2025
  • CVE: CVE-2019-1965
  • Severity: High
  • Exploit:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: High
  • Score: 7.7
  • AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS v2:

  • Severity: Low
  • Score: 4
  • AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:P
Software From Fixed in
cisco / nx-os 5.2 6.2\(29\)
cisco / nx-os 7.3 8.4
cisco / nx-os 7.0\(3\)f 9.2
cisco / nx-os - 7.1\(5\)n1\(1b\)
cisco / nx-os 7.3 7.3\(5\)n1\(1\)
cisco / nx-os - 6.2\(22\)
cisco / nx-os 7.2 7.3\(4\)d1\(1\)
cisco / nx-os 8.0 8.2\(3\)
cisco / nx-os 8.3 8.4
cisco / nx-os - 7.0\(3\)i4\(9\)
cisco / nx-os 7.0\(3\)i7 7.0\(3\)i7\(4\)
cisco / nx-os 7.0\(3\)i7 7.0\(3\)i7\(6\)
cisco / nx-os 9.2 9.2\(3\)
cisco / nx-os - 3.2\(3k\)
cisco / nx-os 4.0 4.0\(2e\)

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.