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Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2020-3207

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-06-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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 · unedited
A vulnerability in the processing of boot options of specific Cisco IOS XE Software switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker with root shell access to the underlying operating system (OS) to conduct a command injection attack during device boot. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation checks while processing boot options. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying device boot options to execute attacker-provided code. A successful exploit may allow an attacker to bypass the Secure Boot process and execute malicious code on an affected device with root-level 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 confidence

A command injection vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software allows an authenticated attacker with existing root shell access to modify device boot options, bypassing Secure Boot to execute malicious code with root privileges. The flaw stems from insufficient input validation during boot option processing.

MitigationRestrict physical and console access to prevent unauthorized root shell access; apply Cisco-provided software patches when available.

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
Ios XeOperating system
Affected:= 16.9.2= 16.9.2a= 16.9.2s= 16.9.3= 16.9.3a= 16.9.3h= 16.9.3s= 16.9.4= 16.10.1= 16.10.1e= 16.10.1s= 16.11.1

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine the Cisco IOS XE software version
    Execute 'show version' on the device CLI and locate the version string (typically shown as IOS XE version or firmware version)
    Affected if The displayed version matches any of the following: 16.9.2, 16.9.2a, 16.9.2s, 16.9.3, 16.9.3a, 16.9.3h, 16.9.3s, 16.9.4, 16.10.1, 16.10.1e, 16.10.1s, or 16.11.1
  2. Verify if root shell access is available
    Attempt to access the root shell via 'enable' then 'request platform software shell' or check for existing privilege escalation paths that provide root-level access
    Affected if Root shell access is attainable by any user with administrative privileges on the device
  3. Inspect boot configuration for modifications
    Execute 'show boot' or examine the configuration file for boot-related commands (boot system, boot manual, boot helper) to identify any unexpected or manually added boot entries
    Affected if Boot options have been modified from their default configuration or contain unexpected values
  4. Check Secure Boot status
    Use 'show secure-boot' or equivalent command to verify if Cisco Secure Boot is enabled and functioning
    Affected if Secure Boot is disabled or shows a compromised state

The device is affected if it runs any of the listed IOS XE versions (16.9.2 through 16.11.1) AND an attacker can obtain root shell access, allowing them to manipulate boot options and bypass Secure Boot.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Restrict physical and console access to prevent unauthorized root shell access; apply Cisco-provided software patches when available.

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-3207 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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