CVE-2024-20413
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 Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with privileges to access the Bash shell to elevate privileges to network-admin on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient security restrictions when executing application arguments from the Bash shell. An attacker with privileges to access the Bash shell could exploit this vulnerability by executing crafted commands on the underlying operating system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to create new users with the privileges of network-admin.
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 confidenceLocal privilege escalation vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS Software where an authenticated attacker with Bash shell access can execute crafted commands to bypass security restrictions and create new users with network-admin privileges. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of application arguments executed from the Bash shell.
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
- 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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Confirm Cisco NX-OS is runningExecute 'show version' or 'show inventory' to identify the operating system. Look for 'Cisco NX-OS' in the output.Affected if Device is not running Cisco NX-OS (not affected)
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Identify the installed NX-OS versionRun 'show version' and locate the 'NXOS: version' or 'system: version' line. Compare this version number against the affected version range provided in Cisco's advisory for CVE-2024-20413.Affected if Version falls within the vulnerable version range and Bash shell access is available
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Verify if Bash shell access is enabledCheck the running configuration with 'show running-config' or examine user accounts via 'show user-account' to determine if any accounts have the 'bash-shell' privilege or a shell assignment.Affected if Bash shell is accessible to authenticated users (vulnerability can be exploited)
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Audit for unauthorized network-admin accountsRun 'show user-account' and review the role assignment for each user. Also use 'show role' or check the output of 'show user' to list all users with 'network-admin' role.Affected if Unexpected or unauthorized accounts exist with network-admin privileges
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Review command history for suspicious account creationIf accessible, examine the bash history or NX-OS command logs for patterns like 'username', 'role', or 'user' combined with 'network-admin'. Check logs via 'show logging' for account modification events.Affected if Commands creating users with elevated privileges were executed by non-admin accounts
A user is affected if the device runs a vulnerable Cisco NX-OS version, has Bash shell access enabled, and either unauthorized network-admin accounts exist or the account creation commands were logged.
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 Cisco's software update/patch for CVE-2024-20413. Restrict Bash shell access to essential personnel only and monitor for unauthorized user account creation on affected devices.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-20413 — 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-2024-20413 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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