AsyncosOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2020-3546
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 web-based management interface of Cisco AsyncOS software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to access sensitive information on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of requests that are sent to the web-based management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to the interface of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain the IP addresses that are configured on the internal interfaces of the affected device. There is a workaround that addresses this vulnerability.
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 confidenceA vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco AsyncOS for Email Security Appliance allows unauthenticated remote attackers to obtain internal interface IP addresses due to insufficient request validation. Attackers exploit this by sending crafted requests to the management interface.
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
AsyncosOperating system
<= 13.5.1CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Cisco Email Security Appliance modelLog into the device CLI and run the command 'version' or 'show version' to identify the hardware model (ESA - Email Security Appliance)Affected if Device is a Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA)
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Check AsyncOS versionRun the command 'version' in the CLI and locate the AsyncOS version number in the outputAffected if AsyncOS version is 13.5.1 or lower
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Verify web-based management interface is enabledRun 'list' or check the interface configuration to confirm the web GUI (HTTP/HTTPS) listener is configured on the management interfaceAffected if Web management interface (GUI) is enabled and listening
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Assess management interface network exposureCheck ACLs or interface bindings to determine if the web management interface is reachable from untrusted networks (external IPs)Affected if Management interface is accessible from untrusted/external networks
Your environment is affected if you are running Cisco Email Security Appliance with AsyncOS version 13.5.1 or lower and the web-based management interface is network-accessible to untrusted parties.
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 dataApply the Cisco-provided workaround (typically restricting access to the management interface via ACLs or disabling external access) or apply the vendor patch when available.
Fix this in Asyncos
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3546 — 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-2020-3546 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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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.
- 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
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