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Nexus DashboardApplication · Cisco

CVE-2024-20282

MEDIUM · 6.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.1 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
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 Cisco Nexus Dashboard could allow an authenticated, local attacker with valid rescue-user credentials to elevate privileges to root on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient protections for a sensitive access token. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using this token to access resources within the device infrastructure. A successful exploit could allow an attacker to gain root access to the filesystem or hosted containers on an affected 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 · moderate confidence

This vulnerability in Cisco Nexus Dashboard allows an authenticated local attacker with valid rescue-user credentials to escalate privileges to root. The root cause is insufficient protection of a sensitive access token that can be leveraged to access device infrastructure resources, ultimately granting root access to the filesystem or hosted containers.

MitigationApply the vendor patch when available; in the interim, strictly limit rescue-user account access and monitor for any unauthorized local access attempts.

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
Nexus DashboardApplication
Affected:< 3.1(1k)

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 Nexus Dashboard version
    Access the Nexus Dashboard admin interface or use the CLI command 'show version' to retrieve the installed software version
    Affected if The installed version is any release prior to 3.1(1k)
  2. Confirm product is Nexus Dashboard
    Verify the system is running Cisco Nexus Dashboard by checking the product name in the admin UI or using 'show product' command
    Affected if The product is not Cisco Nexus Dashboard (this CVE does not apply)
  3. Check rescue-user account status
    Review user accounts in the Nexus Dashboard administrative interface or query the user database for the presence and status of the rescue-user account
    Affected if The rescue-user account exists and is enabled on the system
  4. Audit access token protection
    Inspect system configuration files and logs for any exposed or improperly protected access tokens related to device infrastructure resources
    Affected if Sensitive access tokens are found in unprotected locations or logs

You are affected if Cisco Nexus Dashboard is running a version prior to 3.1(1k) with the rescue-user account enabled and exposed access tokens present on the system

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.1 or later
Fixed in 3.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch when available; in the interim, strictly limit rescue-user account access and monitor for any unauthorized local access attempts.

Recommended fix High confidence

3.1(1k) or later

  1. 1. Review the Cisco Nexus Dashboard upgrade documentation and release notes for version 3.1(1k) to understand prerequisites and compatibility requirements.
  2. 2. Back up all critical configurations and data on the current Nexus Dashboard deployment.
  3. 3. Download Cisco Nexus Dashboard version 3.1(1k) or later from the Cisco software download center (software.cisco.com).
  4. 4. Follow Cisco's documented upgrade procedure for Nexus Dashboard, ensuring all pre-upgrade checks are completed.
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the system is running version 3.1(1k) or later using the appropriate CLI or UI command.
  6. 6. Confirm that the rescue-user account privileges are properly scoped and no unauthorized root access is possible.
Caveat Review Cisco release notes for any configuration or compatibility changes between your current version and 3.1(1k)

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Nexus Dashboard Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

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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-2024-20282 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