Security ManagerApplication · Cisco
CVE-2020-27130
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 Cisco Security Manager could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain access to sensitive information. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of directory traversal character sequences within requests to an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to download arbitrary files from the affected device.
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 confidenceThis is a directory traversal vulnerability in Cisco Security Manager that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to download arbitrary files from the affected device by sending crafted requests containing directory traversal character sequences (such as ../). The vulnerability stems from improper input validation of path traversal sequences in HTTP requests to the affected device.
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
Security ManagerApplication
<= 4.21CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
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 Cisco Security Manager installationLocate Cisco Security Manager processes or services running on the system, or check for the software in installed program listingsAffected if Cisco Security Manager is installed on the system
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Determine installed versionUse the application's built-in version check mechanism, typically via the web interface (help/about page) or command line tool if availableAffected if The installed version is 4.21 or lower (any version <= 4.21)
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Verify web interface accessibilityDetermine if the Cisco Security Manager web interface (typically ports 443 or 8443) is reachable from external or untrusted networksAffected if The web interface is exposed to untrusted networks without network-based access restrictions
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Check for path traversal protectionReview any WAF configurations, reverse proxy rules, or application-level input validation filters that may be in place to detect or block directory traversal sequencesAffected if No WAF or input validation is blocking ../ patterns in HTTP requests
You are affected if Cisco Security Manager version 4.21 or lower is installed AND its web interface is accessible without compensating controls blocking directory traversal patterns.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply the relevant Cisco Security Manager patches when available, or implement web application firewall rules to filter directory traversal patterns; also restrict external access to the Management interface and audit file access controls.
Cisco Security Manager 4.22 or later
- 1. Identify the current Cisco Security Manager version running in your environment
- 2. Download Cisco Security Manager version 4.22 or later from the Cisco Software Download Center
- 3. Review the Cisco Security Manager upgrade guide for prerequisites and compatibility requirements
- 4. Create a full backup of the current Security Manager configuration
- 5. Schedule a maintenance window as upgrades may require downtime
- 6. Follow the documented upgrade procedure to install version 4.22 or later
- 7. After upgrade, verify the Security Manager service is running correctly
- 8. Test that directory traversal attempts are now properly validated and blocked
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Security Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing5.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-27130 — 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-2020-27130 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data