Secure Firewall Threat DefenseApplication · Cisco
CVE-2020-3167
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 CLI of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco UCS Manager Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system (OS). The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including crafted arguments to specific commands. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying OS with the privileges of the currently logged-in user for all affected platforms excluding Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects. On Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects, the injected commands are executed with root privileges.
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 vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco UCS Manager Software allows an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying OS due to insufficient input validation. Attackers exploit this by including crafted arguments to specific commands, executing with the currently logged-in user's privileges on most platforms, but with root privileges on Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects.
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
Secure Firewall Threat DefenseApplication
>= 6.2.2, < 6.2.3.13>= 6.3.0, < 6.4.0.8>= 6.5.0, < 6.5.0.2
Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system
>= 9.8, < 9.9.2.66>= 9.10, < 9.12.3.6>= 9.13, < 9.13.1.5
Firepower Extensible Operating SystemOperating system
< 2.4.1.234
Ucs ManagerApplication
< 3.2\(3n\)>= 4.0, < 4.0\(4g\)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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 the product and firmware versionRun 'show version' or 'systeminv | grep Version' on the device CLI to determine if you are running Cisco Firepower Threat Defense, Cisco ASA, Cisco FXOS, or Cisco UCS Manager and note the exact version numberAffected if The installed version falls within any of the listed affected ranges: FTD >= 6.2.2 < 6.2.3.13, >= 6.3.0 < 6.4.0.8, or >= 6.5.0 < 6.5.0.2; ASA >= 9.8 < 9.9.2.66, >= 9.10 < 9.12.3.6, or >= 9.13 < 9.13.1.5; FXOS < 2.4.1.234; UCS Manager < 3.2(3n) or >= 4.0 < 4.0(4g)
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Confirm CLI access is availableVerify the device has an active CLI interface by attempting to access it via console, SSH, or telnet. This vulnerability resides in the CLI subsystemAffected if CLI access is available and the device is running an affected product/version from step 1
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Verify local authentication is configuredCheck the authentication configuration using 'show running-config | include aaa' or 'show auth' commands to determine if local user authentication is enabledAffected if Local authentication is enabled on an affected device, providing the attacker the authenticated access needed to exploit this vulnerability
You are affected if your device runs any of the specified product versions AND has CLI access with local user authentication configured, allowing an authenticated local attacker to inject arbitrary commands through insufficiently validated CLI arguments.
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 data2.4.1.2343.24.0
Apply the relevant Cisco security patches for this vulnerability. Restrict CLI access to trusted local users only and follow least-privilege principles to limit the impact of potential exploitation.
Fix this in Secure Firewall Threat Defense
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,448.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3167 — 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-2020-3167 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
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