Clustered Data OntapApplication · Netapp

CVE-2020-8579

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-10-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Clustered Data ONTAP versions 9.7 through 9.7P7 are susceptible to a vulnerability which allows an attacker with access to an intercluster LIF to cause a Denial of Service (DoS).

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

Clustered Data ONTAP versions 9.7 through 9.7P7 contains a vulnerability in the intercluster LIF (Logical Interface) functionality. An attacker with network access to an intercluster LIF can send specially crafted requests that cause the system to become unavailable, resulting in a Denial of Service condition.

MitigationRestrict network access to intercluster LIFs to only trusted cluster peers, and upgrade to Data ONTAP 9.7P8 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

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
Clustered Data OntapApplication
Affected:= 9.7

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 installed Data ONTAP version
    Run the command 'version' or 'system node image' to display the currently running ONTAP version and build number
    Affected if The displayed version falls within 9.7 through 9.7P7 (any 9.7 version up to and including 9.7P7)
  2. Verify presence of intercluster LIFs
    Run 'network interface show -role intercluster' to list all intercluster logical interfaces configured on the cluster
    Affected if Any intercluster LIFs are present and active on the system
  3. Check intercluster LIF status
    Run 'network interface show -role intercluster -fields status,address,home-node' to view operational status, IP addresses, and home nodes of intercluster LIFs
    Affected if Any intercluster LIFs show status as 'up' or 'linked'
  4. Identify network accessibility to intercluster LIFs
    Review firewall policy applied to intercluster LIFs using 'network interface show -role intercluster -fields firewall-policy' and check associated IP addresses with 'network interface show -role intercluster -fields address,netmask'
    Affected if Intercluster LIFs are accessible from networks beyond trusted cluster peers

A system is affected if it runs Data ONTAP 9.7 through 9.7P7 and has intercluster LIFs configured and accessible on the network.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Restrict network access to intercluster LIFs to only trusted cluster peers, and upgrade to Data ONTAP 9.7P8 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Fix this in Clustered Data Ontap Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,888.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8579 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-8579 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