dbcve.org
Content Security Management ApplianceApplication · Cisco

CVE-2020-3447

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-08-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.5.1 / 13.6.1-201 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
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco AsyncOS for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Cisco AsyncOS for Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access sensitive information on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to excessive verbosity in certain log subscriptions. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by accessing specific log files on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain sensitive log data, which may include user credentials. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need to have valid credentials at the operator level or higher on the 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 · high confidence

A vulnerability in Cisco AsyncOS CLI for Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Security Management Appliance (SMA) allows authenticated attackers with operator-level credentials to access excessively verbose log files that may contain plaintext user credentials. The issue stems from certain log subscriptions not filtering sensitive data.

MitigationConfigure log subscriptions to filter or redact sensitive information such as credentials, or apply Cisco-provided patches if available. Review and restrict operator-level access to log files.

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
Content Security Management ApplianceApplication
Affected:< 13.6.1-201
Email Security ApplianceApplication
Affected:< 13.5.1

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 the Cisco appliance type
    Access the AsyncOS CLI or web interface and confirm whether the device is an Email Security Appliance (ESA) or Security Management Appliance (SMA)
    Affected if The device is an ESA or SMA model
  2. Check the installed AsyncOS version
    Run the 'version' command in the AsyncOS CLI or check the System Administration > Software Updates page in the web interface
    Affected if For ESA: version is below 13.5.1. For SMA: version is below 13.6.1-201
  3. Verify operator-level accounts exist
    Check the user accounts configured on the appliance by running 'userlist' in the CLI or reviewing Users in the GUI. Look for accounts with 'Operator' role
    Affected if Operator-level user accounts are present on the appliance
  4. Inspect configured log subscriptions
    Run 'logconfig' in the CLI and review active log subscriptions. Check if any subscriptions are directed to verbose output or debug levels
    Affected if Log subscriptions are configured with verbose or debug settings that may capture authentication details
  5. Review log file content for unfiltered credentials
    Access log files via the 'grep' command or log subscription retrieval. Search for patterns like 'password', 'credential', or plaintext authentication tokens in the logs
    Affected if Log files contain plaintext passwords or credentials without redaction

A user is affected if they run an ESA below version 13.5.1 or an SMA below version 13.6.1-201, have operator-level accounts configured, and possess log subscriptions that may expose sensitive credentials.

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 13.5.1 / 13.6.1-201 or later
Fixed in 13.5.113.6.1-201
Interim mitigation

Configure log subscriptions to filter or redact sensitive information such as credentials, or apply Cisco-provided patches if available. Review and restrict operator-level access to log files.

Fix this in Content Security Management Appliance Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,690
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,304.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3447 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-3447 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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