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JabberApplication · Cisco

CVE-2020-3498

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-09-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.1.3 / 12.5.2 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 Cisco Jabber software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to gain access to sensitive information. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of message contents. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted messages to a targeted system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the application to return sensitive authentication information to another system, possibly for use in further attacks.

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

Cisco Jabber contains an improper input validation vulnerability in message handling. An authenticated remote attacker can send specially crafted messages that cause the application to leak sensitive authentication credentials to an external system. This is a logic flaw in how messages are processed, not a traditional injection or memory corruption issue.

MitigationApply the Cisco security patches for CVE-2020-3498 to all affected Jabber installations. Verify that Jabber clients and servers are updated to a patched version.

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
JabberApplication
Affected:>= 12.1, < 12.1.3>= 12.5, < 12.5.2>= 12.6, < 12.6.3>= 12.7, < 12.7.2>= 12.8, < 12.8.3>= 12.9, < 12.9.1

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 Cisco Jabber installed version
    On Windows: open the app, go to Help > About Cisco Jabber and note the version number. Alternatively, check the Windows Programs and Features list or the file properties of the Jabber executable. On Mac: go to Cisco Jabber > About Cisco Jabber.
    Affected if The displayed version falls within any of these ranges: 12.1.x where x < 3; 12.5.x where x < 2; 12.6.x where x < 3; 12.7.x where x < 2; 12.8.x where x < 3; 12.9.x where x < 1
  2. Verify the exact minor version
    Confirm the full version string including the minor release number (for example, 12.1.2, 12.5.1, 12.6.2, etc.). Check both the client version and any server-side Jabber components if applicable.
    Affected if The minor version is lower than the first fixed release in each branch (for example, 12.1.2 or earlier, 12.5.1 or earlier, etc.)
  3. Confirm messaging functionality is active
    Verify that the Cisco Jabber client is configured with messaging or instant messaging capabilities enabled and connected to a messaging server (such as Cisco Unified Communications Manager or Cisco Webex).
    Affected if Messaging features are enabled and the client has an active connection to a Cisco messaging infrastructure, because the vulnerability is triggered through specially crafted messages processed by the client

You are affected if your installed Cisco Jabber version is within any of the listed vulnerable ranges and the messaging feature is active, allowing specially crafted messages to trigger credential leakage.

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 12.1.3 / 12.5.2 / 12.6.3 or later
Fixed in 12.1.312.5.212.6.3
Interim mitigation

Apply the Cisco security patches for CVE-2020-3498 to all affected Jabber installations. Verify that Jabber clients and servers are updated to a patched version.

Fix this in Jabber Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

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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-2020-3498 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data