Iot Field Network DirectorApplication · Cisco
CVE-2020-26078
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedA vulnerability in the file system of Cisco IoT Field Network Director (FND) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to overwrite files on an affected system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient file system protections. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting API requests and sending them to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to overwrite files on an affected system.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceA file system protection vulnerability in Cisco IoT Field Network Director allows authenticated remote attackers to overwrite arbitrary files on the affected system by sending crafted API requests. The vulnerability stems from insufficient file system access controls that fail to properly restrict file write operations through the API.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Iot Field Network DirectorApplication
< 4.6.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Cisco IoT Field Network Director versionLocate the version number of the installed Cisco IoT Field Network Director through its web interface administrative panel, CLI command output, or version information files in the installation directory.Affected if The installed version is lower than 4.6.1
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Confirm API interface is enabledAccess the Cisco IoT Field Network Director administrative console and review the API or web services configuration settings to determine if the REST API interface is enabled and accessible.Affected if The API interface is enabled and accessible to authenticated users
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Review API user permissionsExamine the user role and permission configuration for the API to determine what operations authenticated users can perform, particularly whether file write or upload capabilities are granted.Affected if Authenticated API users have permissions that allow file write operations beyond the intended working directory
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Inspect file system access controlsCheck the underlying host file system permissions for the application directories. Verify which system accounts and processes have write access to sensitive directories.Affected if The application process or API has overly permissive file system write access that allows modification outside its designated directories
The environment is affected if Cisco IoT Field Network Director version is below 4.6.1 with the API enabled and authenticated users can write to arbitrary file system locations.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data4.6.1
Apply Cisco security patches when available. Until then, limit API access to only trusted, authenticated users and implement additional file system access controls at the host level to restrict write permissions on sensitive directories.
Fix this in Iot Field Network Director
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-26078 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-26078 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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