Ucs DirectorApplication · Cisco
CVE-2020-3251
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 · uneditedMultiple 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 confidenceVulnerabilities in the REST API of Cisco UCS Director and Cisco UCS Director Express for Big Data allow remote attackers to bypass authentication or conduct directory traversal attacks on affected devices. The authentication bypass is particularly severe as it grants unauthenticated access, while directory traversal enables reading unauthorized files outside the web root.
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
= 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
<= 3.7.3.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 installed Cisco UCS productLog into the Cisco UCS Director or Cisco UCS Director Express for Big Data management console. Navigate to the About or System Information page to view the exact product name and version number.Affected if The product is Cisco UCS Director version 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, or 6.6.0.0, OR Cisco UCS Director Express for Big Data version 3.7.3.0 or earlier.
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Check if REST API is enabledIn the UCS Director or UCS Director Express management console, navigate to Administration > REST API Settings or similar configuration section to verify whether the REST API service is enabled.Affected if The REST API is enabled on an affected version listed in step 1.
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Verify REST API network exposureReview firewall rules, access lists, or network security groups that control access to the device. Confirm which IP addresses or networks can reach the REST API endpoints (typically port 443 or 8080).Affected if The REST API is accessible from untrusted networks or the internet on an affected version.
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Inspect API access logs for traversal patternsReview the REST API access logs or system logs for requests containing path traversal sequences such as ../, ..\, or absolute paths like /etc/passwd. These logs are typically found in the management console under Logs or Monitoring sections.Affected if Unusual path traversal requests appear in logs from an affected version with REST API enabled.
A defender is affected if their installed Cisco UCS Director or Cisco UCS Director Express for Big Data version matches the listed affected versions AND the REST API is enabled and exposed.
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's official patches for this vulnerability. If patches are unavailable, restrict network access to the REST API interface using firewall rules and implement additional authentication/authorization controls.
Fix this in Ucs Director
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3251 — 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-2020-3251 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
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