Application Policy Infrastructure ControllerApplication · Cisco
CVE-2020-3139
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 out of band (OOB) management interface IP table rule programming for Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass configured deny entries for specific IP ports. These IP ports would be permitted to the OOB management interface when, in fact, the packets should be dropped. The vulnerability is due to the configuration of specific IP table entries for which there is a programming logic error that results in the IP port being permitted. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic to the OOB management interface on the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass configured IP table rules to drop specific IP port traffic. The attacker has no control over the configuration of the device itself. This vulnerability affects Cisco APIC releases prior to the first fixed software Release 4.2(3j).
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 · high confidenceA logic error in Cisco APIC's OOB management interface IP table rule programming causes specific ports to be permitted when deny rules should block them. An unauthenticated remote attacker sending traffic to these ports can bypass configured IP table drop rules.
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
Application Policy Infrastructure ControllerApplication
< 4.2\(3j\)CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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.
-
Check Cisco APIC software versionRun 'show version' on the APIC CLI or query the APIC JSON API at /api/class/fabricNode.json to retrieve the firmware versionAffected if The installed version is lower than 4.2(3j)
-
Identify OOB management interfaceRun 'show ip interface' or check the APIC OOB management configuration to confirm the out-of-band interface is assigned an IP addressAffected if OOB management interface is configured with an active IP on the APIC
-
Review IP table drop rules on OOB interfaceRun 'iptables -L -n -v' on the APIC CLI to list filter rules, noting any deny rules targeting specific ports on the OOB management interfaceAffected if Deny rules are configured but traffic to specific ports is unexpectedly permitted when it should be blocked
The environment is affected if the APIC runs software version lower than 4.2(3j) and the OOB management interface has configured IP table deny rules that are being bypassed for specific ports.
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 data4.2
Upgrade Cisco APIC to software release 4.2(3j) or later to remediate this vulnerability.
Fix this in Application Policy Infrastructure Controller
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3139 — 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-2020-3139 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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