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Improper Privilege ManagementWeakness · CWE-269

CVE-2024-20262

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) and SFTP feature of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to create or overwrite files in a system directory, which could lead to a denial of service (DoS) condition. The attacker would require valid user credentials to perform this attack. This vulnerability is due to a lack of proper validation of SCP and SFTP CLI input parameters. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the device and issuing SCP or SFTP CLI commands with specific parameters. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to impact the functionality of the device, which could lead to a DoS condition. The device may need to be manually rebooted to recover. Note: This vulnerability is exploitable only when a local user invokes SCP or SFTP commands at the Cisco IOS XR CLI. A local user with administrative privileges could exploit this vulnerability remotely.

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

This is an improper input validation vulnerability in the SCP and SFTP CLI feature of Cisco IOS XR Software. An authenticated attacker with valid credentials can manipulate SCP/SFTP CLI commands to write files to system directories, potentially overwriting critical system files and causing a denial of service that may require manual reboot.

MitigationApply the vendor patch when available. Restrict SCP/SFTP access to only necessary administrative users and monitor for unauthorized file operations. Consider disabling SCP/SFTP if not required.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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 the device and IOS XR version
    Run 'show version' or 'show inventory' to confirm the device runs Cisco IOS XR Software and note the exact version number
    Affected if The device is running Cisco IOS XR and the version falls within the affected range (if known) or is unpatched
  2. Verify if SCP is enabled
    Run 'show running-config | include scp' or check the configuration mode for 'ip scp server enable'
    Affected if SCP server is enabled and accessible to authenticated users
  3. Verify if SFTP is enabled
    Check the configuration for SFTP settings using 'show running-config' or entering configuration mode to review sftp-server settings
    Affected if SFTP feature is enabled and accessible to authenticated users
  4. Review recent file operations in system directories
    Use 'dir' or 'ls' commands on system directories such as /flash, /opt, and /pkg to check for unexpected files or modifications
    Affected if Unexpected files exist in system directories or recent changes to critical system files are detected
  5. Check authentication and command logs for suspicious SCP/SFTP activity
    Review logs using 'show logging' or dedicated authentication logs for SCP/SFTP commands that write to non-user directories
    Affected if Logs show SCP/SFTP file write operations to system directories from untrusted or unexpected sources

A user is affected if their Cisco IOS XR device has SCP or SFTP CLI feature enabled and is running an unpatched version of IOS XR Software.

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

Apply the vendor patch when available. Restrict SCP/SFTP access to only necessary administrative users and monitor for unauthorized file operations. Consider disabling SCP/SFTP if not required.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
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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-2024-20262 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
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