Secure Firewall Management CenterApplication · Cisco
CVE-2020-3514
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the multi-instance feature of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escape the container for their Cisco FTD instance and execute commands with root privileges in the host namespace. The attacker must have valid credentials on the device.The vulnerability exists because a configuration file that is used at container startup has insufficient protections. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying a specific container configuration file on the underlying file system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands with root privileges within the host namespace. This could allow the attacker to impact other running Cisco FTD instances or the host Cisco FXOS 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 confidenceA container escape vulnerability in Cisco FTD's multi-instance feature allows an authenticated local attacker to modify a specific container configuration file used at startup, bypassing container isolation to execute commands with root privileges in the host namespace. This enables the attacker to impact other FTD instances or the underlying FXOS host.
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
Secure Firewall Management CenterApplication
< 6.6.1
Secure Firewall Threat DefenseApplication
>= 6.3.0, < 6.3.0.6>= 6.4.0, < 6.4.0.10>= 6.5.0, < 6.5.0.5= 6.6.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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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Check the installed FTD versionUse 'show version' or access the FTD CLI to determine the exact software version running on the deviceAffected if The version falls within any of these ranges: >= 6.3.0 and < 6.3.0.6, >= 6.4.0 and < 6.4.0.10, >= 6.5.0 and < 6.5.0.5, or equals 6.6.0
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Check the installed FMC versionIf using Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center, determine the software version from the admin console or CLIAffected if The version is less than 6.6.1
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Determine if multi-instance feature is enabledCheck the FTD configuration for active container instances or multi-instance setup using 'show run' or examining the device management interfaceAffected if Multi-instance containers are configured and running on the FTD device
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Inspect container configuration filesExamine the container configuration directory used at startup for any unexpected modifications or unauthorized changes to configuration filesAffected if Container configuration files have been altered from their expected baseline or contain unauthorized entries
You are affected if your Cisco FTD version is within the vulnerable ranges AND the multi-instance feature is enabled, or if your Cisco FMC version is below 6.6.1 and manages vulnerable FTD instances.
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 data6.3.0.66.4.0.106.5.0.5
Apply Cisco's security updates for FTD software to patch the vulnerable container configuration handling. Restrict local administrative access to trusted personnel and monitor for unauthorized filesystem modifications to the container configuration directory.
Fix this in Secure Firewall Management Center
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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 locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3514 — 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-2020-3514 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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