CVE-2010-0592 in Unified Communications Manager
Summary
by MITRE
The CTI Manager service in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (aka CUCM, formerly CallManager) 4.x before 4.3(2)sr1a, 6.x before 6.1(3), 7.0x before 7.0(2), 7.1x before 7.1(2), and 8.x before 8.0(1) allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (service failure) via a malformed message, aka Bug ID CSCsu31800.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/01/2026
The vulnerability described in CVE-2010-0592 represents a critical denial of service weakness within Cisco Unified Communications Manager's CTI Manager service component. This issue affects multiple versions of Cisco's unified communications platform, spanning from version 4.x through 8.x releases, creating a widespread impact across enterprise communication infrastructures. The vulnerability specifically targets the CTI Manager service which is responsible for handling communication between telephony systems and computer applications, making it a crucial component for business continuity in organizations relying on Cisco's unified communications solutions.
The technical flaw manifests through the improper handling of malformed messages sent to the CTI Manager service. When the service receives these crafted or corrupted messages, it fails to properly validate or sanitize the incoming data before processing. This lack of input validation creates a condition where the service becomes unstable and eventually crashes or becomes unresponsive. The vulnerability operates at the protocol level where the service expects well-formed messages but encounters unexpected data structures that trigger internal processing failures. According to CWE-20, this represents a classic input validation vulnerability where the application fails to properly validate input data before processing it, leading to system instability and potential service disruption.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption, as it can severely compromise business continuity for organizations relying on Cisco Unified Communications Manager. When the CTI Manager service fails due to malformed message processing, it affects the integration between telephony systems and computer applications, potentially disrupting call handling, voicemail services, and other critical communication functions. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to exploit this weakness without requiring authentication, making it particularly dangerous in network environments where the service is exposed to external threats. This remote exploit capability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks, where adversaries leverage service vulnerabilities to disrupt availability of communication systems. Organizations may experience cascading failures as the service disruption affects dependent systems and applications that rely on proper telephony integration.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability involve implementing immediate software updates to the affected Cisco Unified Communications Manager versions, specifically upgrading to the patched releases mentioned in the advisory. Organizations should also consider network segmentation and access control measures to limit exposure of the CTI Manager service to untrusted networks. Implementing network monitoring and intrusion detection systems can help identify suspicious message patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of affected software versions and ensure proper patch management procedures are in place to prevent similar issues in the future. The vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation mechanisms and proper error handling in communication service components, particularly those handling external inputs from potentially malicious sources.