CVE-2020-3175
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 resource handling system of Cisco NX-OS Software for Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper resource usage control. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic to the management interface (mgmt0) of an affected device at very high rates. An exploit could allow the attacker to cause unexpected behaviors such as high CPU usage, process crashes, or even full system reboots of an 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 confidenceA resource handling vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS for MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to cause denial of service by sending traffic at very high rates to the management interface (mgmt0). The improper resource usage control fails to handle the excessive traffic, leading to high CPU usage, process crashes, or full system reboots.
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= 6.2\(1\)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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/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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Confirm MDS 9000 Series hardwareRun 'show version' or 'show module' to identify the device modelAffected if Device is not a Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switch
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Check NX-OS versionRun 'show version' and locate the NX-OS software version in the outputAffected if Version equals 6.2(1)
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Verify mgmt0 interface exists and is configuredRun 'show interface mgmt0' to confirm the management interface is present and has an IP address configuredAffected if mgmt0 interface is present with an IP address assigned
If the device is a Cisco MDS 9000 Series switch running NX-OS version 6.2(1) with the management interface (mgmt0) configured, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.
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 dataApply Cisco-provided patches for CVE-2020-3175; if unavailable, implement rate limiting or access controls on the management interface and consider network segmentation to restrict management interface exposure.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3175 — 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-2020-3175 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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