Ios XeOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2024-20306
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 Unified Threat Defense (UTD) configuration CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying host operating system. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must have level 15 privileges on the affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted CLI command to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system.
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 command injection vulnerability in the Unified Threat Defense (UTD) configuration CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software allows authenticated level 15 users to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying host OS due to insufficient input validation when processing crafted CLI commands.
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
Ios XeOperating system
= 17.10.1= 17.10.1a= 17.10.1b= 17.11.1= 17.11.1a= 17.11.99sw= 17.12.1= 17.12.1a= 17.12.1wCVSS 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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Determine the running IOS XE versionExecute 'show version' or 'show ios version' from the CLI and locate the version string (typically in the first line of output)Affected if The version matches any of the following: 17.10.1, 17.10.1a, 17.10.1b, 17.11.1, 17.11.1a, 17.11.99sw, 17.12.1, 17.12.1a, or 17.12.1w
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Verify if Unified Threat Defense (UTD) is enabledExecute 'show utd status' or 'show running-config | include utd' to check whether the UTD feature is configured on the deviceAffected if UTD is currently enabled or configured on the device (the vulnerability exists in the UTD configuration CLI specifically)
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Confirm level 15 administrative access existsExecute 'show privilege' to see your current privilege level, or 'show users' to list logged-in users and their levelsAffected if Any user with privilege level 15 (full administrative) has CLI access to the device (the attacker needs this level to exploit the flaw)
You are affected if your device runs any of the listed affected IOS XE versions AND has UTD enabled AND permits level 15 administrative CLI access.
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 software update (upgrade to fixed IOS XE version) after verifying the device is running an affected version; restrict CLI access to trusted level 15 administrators only until the patch is applied.
Fix this in Ios Xe
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-20306 — 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-2024-20306 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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