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Ucs DirectorApplication · Cisco

CVE-2020-3252

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.7.3.0 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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

The REST API in Cisco UCS Director and Cisco UCS Director Express for Big Data contains vulnerabilities allowing remote attackers to either bypass authentication mechanisms or perform directory traversal attacks on affected devices. The authentication bypass enables unauthenticated access, while the directory traversal flaw allows attackers to access files outside the web root folder.

MitigationApply the vendor-provided patches or software updates from Cisco for UCS Director. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the management interface and monitor for suspicious API request patterns.

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 version
    Access the admin console or use CLI to retrieve the version number. In the web interface, navigate to Administration > System > Version Information. Alternatively, log in via SSH and run 'show version' or check /opt/ucsdirector/version file if accessible.
    Affected if The installed version matches one of: 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
  2. Identify installed Cisco UCS Director Express for Big Data version
    Access the admin interface or check the system management console for the software version. Use the same CLI methods as UCS Director if applicable.
    Affected if The installed version is 3.7.3.0 or lower
  3. Confirm REST API is exposed
    Check if the REST API endpoint is accessible on the device. Typically accessible at https://<hostname>/app/api/rest or similar paths under /app/api/. Verify if port 443 or the web interface is reachable from network segments that should not have access.
    Affected if The REST API endpoints are reachable from untrusted network segments or the internet
  4. Verify authentication mechanism for API endpoints
    Test the REST API authentication by sending requests to protected endpoints without credentials or with invalid session tokens. Observe if the server returns successful responses despite lacking valid authentication.
    Affected if Unauthenticated requests to REST API endpoints return successful responses with data that should require authentication

A system is affected if it runs Cisco UCS Director version 6.0.0.0 through 6.6.0.0, or Cisco UCS Director Express for Big Data version 3.7.3.0 or lower, and has its REST API accessible to potential attackers.

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 the vendor-provided patches or software updates from Cisco for UCS Director. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the management interface and monitor for suspicious API request patterns.

Fix this in Ucs Director Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2020-3252 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
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data