Ucs DirectorApplication · Cisco

CVE-2020-3248

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.7.3.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
High EPSS Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Multiple vulnerabilities in the REST API of Cisco UCS Director and Cisco UCS Director Express for Big Data may allow a remote attacker to bypass authentication or conduct directory traversal attacks on an affected device. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

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

Multiple vulnerabilities in the REST API of Cisco UCS Director and Cisco UCS Director Express for Big Data allow remote attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms or conduct directory traversal attacks, potentially gaining unauthorized access or reading sensitive files on the affected system.

MitigationApply vendor-provided patches or updates for Cisco UCS Director. If no patch is available, restrict network access to the REST API interface and implement additional authentication layers such as VPN or firewall controls.

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
Ucs DirectorApplication
Affected:= 6.0.0.0= 6.0.0.1= 6.0.1.0= 6.0.1.1= 6.0.1.2= 6.0.1.3= 6.5.0.0= 6.5.0.1= 6.5.0.2= 6.5.0.3= 6.5.0.4= 6.6.0.0
Ucs Director Express For Big DataApplication
Affected:<= 3.7.3.0

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 installed Cisco UCS Director product
    Check the installed version of Cisco UCS Director or Cisco UCS Director Express for Big Data. This is typically available through the product's web interface under 'Administration' > 'System' > 'Version Information', or via CLI using 'ucsdcli -version' or checking /opt/ucsdirector/version file if accessible.
    Affected if The installed version matches any of these: 6.0.0.0, 6.0.0.1, 6.0.1.0, 6.0.1.1, 6.0.1.2, 6.0.1.3, 6.5.0.0, 6.5.0.1, 6.5.0.2, 6.5.0.3, 6.5.0.4, 6.6.0.0 for UCS Director, OR version 3.7.3.0 or lower for UCS Director Express for Big Data.
  2. Verify REST API accessibility
    Confirm that the Cisco UCS Director REST API endpoint is accessible on the network. The REST API typically runs on port 443 or 8080 and responds to requests at /app/api/rest endpoint. Check firewall rules and network exposure.
    Affected if The REST API interface is exposed to network accessible hosts beyond the internal management network.
  3. Check for unauthenticated API access
    Attempt a test REST API call to the Cisco UCS Director without providing authentication credentials. For example, send a GET request to https://<hostname>/app/api/rest/ or inspect access logs for unauthenticated API requests.
    Affected if The REST API accepts and processes requests without requiring valid authentication tokens or session cookies.

Your environment is affected if Cisco UCS Director version 6.0.0.0-6.6.0.0 or Cisco UCS Director Express for Big Data version 3.7.3.0 or lower is installed AND the REST API is network-accessible.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.7.3.0
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-provided patches or updates for Cisco UCS Director. If no patch is available, restrict network access to the REST API interface and implement additional authentication layers such as VPN or firewall controls.

Fix this in Ucs Director Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
34.0 hours of engineering $5,940
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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-2020-3248 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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