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Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2020-3214

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 Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escalate their privileges to a user with root-level privileges. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied content. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to load malicious software onto 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 confidence

Cisco IOS XE Software contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where an authenticated local attacker can gain root-level privileges due to insufficient validation of user-supplied content. The attacker leverages this to load malicious software onto the affected device. This is a local attack requiring valid credentials, not a remote vulnerability.

MitigationApply Cisco's available patches for Cisco IOS XE Software. Limit local administrative access to trusted personnel only and follow least-privilege principles until patches are applied.

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:= 16.11.1= 16.11.1a= 16.11.1b= 16.11.1c= 16.11.1s= 16.11.2= 16.12.1= 16.12.1a= 16.12.1c= 16.12.1s= 16.12.1t= 16.12.1w

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. Identify the device software type
    Run 'show version' and look for 'IOS XE' in the output. Cisco IOS XE is a different platform from classic IOS.
    Affected if The device does not run Cisco IOS XE software (this CVE does not apply to classic IOS or other platforms)
  2. Determine the IOS XE version
    Run 'show version' and locate the version string (for example, 'Version 16.11.1' or 'Version 16.12.1a'). Note the exact version number including any suffixes.
    Affected if The installed version matches one of these exact versions: 16.11.1, 16.11.1a, 16.11.1b, 16.11.1c, 16.11.1s, 16.12.1, 16.12.1a, 16.12.1c, 16.12.1s, 16.12.1t, or 16.12.1w
  3. Verify local authentication is configured
    Run 'show running-config | include username' to list locally configured user accounts. Check 'aaa new-model' and 'aaa authentication login' commands to see if local authentication is enabled.
    Affected if Local user accounts exist and local authentication is enabled - this is required for the attack to work since CVE-2020-3214 requires valid local credentials
  4. Check for unauthorized local accounts
    Run 'show users' and 'show running-config | include username' to review all locally defined accounts. Compare against known, expected administrator accounts.
    Affected if Unexpected or unknown local accounts exist that were not created by your organization

The device is affected if it runs Cisco IOS XE versions 16.11.1 through 16.12.1w (specific exact versions listed) and has local user accounts configured for authentication.

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

Apply Cisco's available patches for Cisco IOS XE Software. Limit local administrative access to trusted personnel only and follow least-privilege principles until patches are applied.

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2020-3214 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
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