CVE-2019-1983

What it is

A vulnerability in the email message filtering feature of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause repeated crashes in some internal processes that are running on the affected devices, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of email attachments. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending an email message with a crafted attachment through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause specific processes to crash repeatedly, resulting in the complete unavailability of both the Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) and message tracking features and in severe performance degradation while processing email. After the affected processes restart, the software resumes filtering for the same attachment, causing the affected processes to crash and restart again. A successful exploit could also allow the attacker to cause a repeated DoS condition. Manual intervention may be required to recover from this situation.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network without logging in. Limited direct impact.

Exploit odds

1.9% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2020-09-23 01:15 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-06-17 02:29 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 1.9% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 5.3 MEDIUM (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2020-09-23 01:15 UTC

Last modified

2026-06-17 02:29 UTC

Exploit probability

1.9% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-20 · Improper input validation

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Cisco Content Security Management Appliance 11.4.0-812
• Cisco Asyncos < 11.0.1-161
• Cisco Asyncos ≤ 12.5.0-633
• Cisco Email Security Appliance 11.0.1-hp5-602
• Cisco Email Security Appliance 11.1.0-404
• Cisco Asyncos < 11.0.3-251
• Cisco Asyncos < 12.5.0-059

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 5.3

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

None

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

Low

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2019-1983.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2019-1983. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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