{"id":5078,"date":"2025-07-03T10:06:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T10:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serisec.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/03\/cisco-unified-cm-vulnerability-allows-remote-attacker-to-login-as-root-user\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T10:06:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T10:06:54","slug":"cisco-unified-cm-vulnerability-allows-remote-attacker-to-login-as-root-user","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serisec.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/03\/cisco-unified-cm-vulnerability-allows-remote-attacker-to-login-as-root-user\/","title":{"rendered":"Cisco Unified CM Vulnerability Allows Remote Attacker to Login As Root User"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cisco Unified CM Vulnerability Allows Remote Attacker to Login As Root User
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A severe vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) systems could allow remote attackers to gain root-level access to affected devices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The vulnerability, designated CVE-2025-20309 with a maximum CVSS score of 10.0, affects Engineering Special releases and stems from hardcoded SSH credentials that cannot be modified or removed by administrators.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/mark><\/strong>
1. CVE-2025-20309 critical severity flaw (CVSS 10.0) with hardcoded SSH root credentials in Cisco Unified CM systems.
2. Only Engineering Special releases 15.0.1.13010-1 through 15.0.1.13017-1 of Cisco Unified CM and Unified CM SME are vulnerable.
3. Remote attackers gain root access without authentication to execute arbitrary commands.
4.\u00a0Apply patch ciscocm.CSCwp27755_D0247-1.cop.sha512 or upgrade to 15SU3 - no workarounds available.<\/pre>\n
Critical Root Access Vulnerability (CVE-2025-20309)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The security flaw affects Cisco Unified CM and Unified CM Session Management Edition (SME) Engineering Special releases 15.0.1.13010-1 through 15.0.1.13017-1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The vulnerability exists due to static user credentials for the root account that were inadvertently left in the system during development phases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These credentials are classified under CWE-798, representing the use of hard-coded credentials that create an authentication bypass mechanism.<\/p>\n
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by utilizing the static root account credentials to establish SSH connections<\/a> to vulnerable systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once authenticated, the attacker gains complete administrative control over the affected device, enabling the execution of arbitrary commands with root privileges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The vulnerability requires no user interaction and can be exploited remotely without any authentication prerequisites, making it particularly dangerous for organizations with internet-facing Unified CM deployments.<\/p>\n
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Risk Factors<\/strong><\/td>\nDetails<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Affected Products<\/td>\nCisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM)- Cisco Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition (Unified CM SME)- Engineering Special (ES) releases 15.0.1.13010-1 through 15.0.1.13017-1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Impact<\/td>\nRemote attacker can log in as root user- Execute arbitrary commands with root privileges<\/a>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Exploit Prerequisites<\/td>\nNo authentication required- Remote network access to affected system- Knowledge of static SSH credentials- No user interaction needed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CVSS 3.1 Score<\/td>\n10.0 (Critical)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n
Remediation Strategies<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Organizations can identify potential exploitation attempts by monitoring system logs for unauthorized root access.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cisco recommends examining the \/var\/log\/active\/syslog\/secure file using the command cucm1# file get activelog syslog\/secure to detect indicators of compromise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suspicious log entries will display successful SSH login attempts by the root user, accompanied by systemd and sshd authentication<\/a> messages showing session establishment for user root with UID 0.<\/p>\n
Cisco has released<\/a> software updates addressing this vulnerability, with fixed versions available through the 15SU3 release scheduled for July 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alternatively, administrators can apply the emergency patch file ciscocm.CSCwp27755_D0247-1.cop.sha512 to vulnerable systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Importantly, Cisco has confirmed that no workarounds exist for this vulnerability, making immediate patching or system updates the only effective mitigation strategy.<\/p>\n
Organizations should prioritize updating affected systems immediately, as the Engineering Special releases are typically deployed in production environments requiring enhanced stability and security.<\/p>\n
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The post Cisco Unified CM Vulnerability Allows Remote Attacker to Login As Root User<\/a> appeared first on Cyber Security News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Cisco Unified CM Vulnerability Allows Remote Attacker to Login As Root User A severe vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) systems could allow remote attackers to gain root-level access to affected devices.\u00a0 The vulnerability, designated CVE-2025-20309 with a maximum CVSS score of 10.0, affects Engineering Special releases and stems from hardcoded SSH credentials […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1439,129,63,131],"tags":[130],"class_list":["post-5078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cisco","category-cyber-security","category-cyber-security-news","category-vulnerability","tag-cyber-security-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serisec.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serisec.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serisec.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serisec.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serisec.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/serisec.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5078\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serisec.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serisec.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serisec.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}