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Encs 5406 W FirmwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2020-3446

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-08-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
A vulnerability in Cisco Virtual Wide Area Application Services (vWAAS) with Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software (NFVIS)-bundled images for Cisco ENCS 5400-W Series and CSP 5000-W Series appliances could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to log into the NFVIS CLI of an affected device by using accounts that have a default, static password. The vulnerability exists because the affected software has user accounts with default, static passwords. An attacker with access to the NFVIS CLI of an affected device could exploit this vulnerability by logging into the CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access the NFVIS CLI with administrator 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

Default credential vulnerability in Cisco vWAAS with NFVIS-bundled images for ENCS 5400-W and CSP 5000-W Series appliances. User accounts ship with default, static passwords allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to gain administrator-level access to the NFVIS CLI.

MitigationImmediately change all default passwords to strong, unique credentials and restrict NFVIS CLI access to prevent unauthorized remote authentication.

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
Encs 5406 W FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 6.4\(1\)= 6.4\(3d\)
Encs 5408 W FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 6.4\(1\)= 6.4\(3d\)
Encs 5412 W FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 6.4\(1\)= 6.4\(3d\)
Csp 5228 W FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 6.4\(1\)= 6.4\(3d\)
Csp 5436 W FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 6.4\(1\)= 6.4\(3d\)

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 the appliance model and confirm it is an affected ENCS or CSP series
    Log into the device or check hardware inventory to identify if the model is ENCS 5406 W, ENCS 5408 W, ENCS 5412 W, CSP 5228 W, or CSP 5436 W
    Affected if The appliance is one of these five specific models
  2. Check the NFVIS firmware version
    Access the NFVIS CLI or web interface and run 'show version' or check the firmware version displayed in the system information
    Affected if The NFVIS firmware version is 6.4(1) or 6.4(3d)
  3. Verify whether default NFVIS administrator credentials are still configured
    Check the NFVIS user accounts by logging into the NFVIS CLI and running 'show user-account' or by reviewing the local authentication configuration
    Affected if The default administrator account (such as 'admin') has never had its password changed from the factory default
  4. Confirm NFVIS CLI is network-accessible
    Check the NFVIS network configuration to determine if the CLI management interface is reachable from remote networks or is bound to an external interface
    Affected if NFVIS CLI management is accessible from network segments outside the trusted internal network

The environment is affected if the appliance is an ENCS 5406/5408/5412 W or CSP 5228/5436 W running NFVIS firmware version 6.4(1) or 6.4(3d) with default credentials still configured and the NFVIS CLI exposed to accessible networks.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Immediately change all default passwords to strong, unique credentials and restrict NFVIS CLI access to prevent unauthorized remote authentication.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Fixed release as specified in Cisco Security Advisory for CVE-2020-3446 (contact Cisco TAC for specific version number)

  1. Identify the specific Cisco ENCS 5400-W Series or CSP 5000-W Series appliance model running the affected firmware versions 6.4(1) or 6.4(3d)
  2. Contact Cisco TAC or check the Cisco Security Advisory for CVE-2020-3446 to obtain the fixed release
  3. Upgrade the NFVIS firmware to the fixed release version indicated in the Cisco advisory
  4. After upgrade, verify that default static accounts have been replaced with properly configured, unique passwords
  5. Confirm administrator access works with the new credentials

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Encs 5406 W Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,180
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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-2020-3446 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