dbcve.org
Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2024-20437

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 web-based management interface of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to perform a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attack and execute commands on the CLI of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient CSRF protections for the web-based management interface of an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by persuading an already authenticated user to follow a crafted link. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to perform arbitrary actions on the affected device with the privileges of the targeted user.

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

A CSRF vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software's web-based management interface allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to trick an already authenticated user into executing arbitrary CLI commands. The attacker crafts malicious links that exploit the lack of proper anti-CSRF tokens, enabling actions with the targeted user's privileges.

MitigationImplement anti-CSRF tokens in the web management interface, disable the interface if unused, or restrict access through network segmentation. Users should avoid clicking untrusted links while authenticated.

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
Affected:= 17.3.2= 17.3.2a= 17.3.3= 17.3.4= 17.3.4a= 17.3.4b= 17.3.4c= 17.3.5= 17.3.5a= 17.3.5b= 17.3.6= 17.3.7

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify IOS XE version
    Run 'show version' or 'show version | include IOS XE' on the device CLI to obtain the installed software version
    Affected if The version matches one of the affected versions: 17.3.2, 17.3.2a, 17.3.3, 17.3.4, 17.3.4a, 17.3.4b, 17.3.4c, 17.3.5, 17.3.5a, 17.3.5b, 17.3.6, or 17.3.7
  2. Check if HTTP web interface is enabled
    Run 'show ip http server status' or 'show running-config | include ip http server' to see if the HTTP server is active
    Affected if HTTP server status shows as enabled (the vulnerability can be exploited over HTTP)
  3. Check if HTTPS web interface is enabled
    Run 'show ip http server secure status' or examine the configuration for 'ip http secure-server' to determine if HTTPS is configured
    Affected if HTTPS server is enabled (the vulnerability can be exploited over HTTPS)
  4. Confirm web-based management is accessible
    Verify that the device has an IP interface configured with 'ip http server' or 'ip http secure-server' in the running configuration, and that firewall rules permit access to ports 80 or 443
    Affected if The web management interface is reachable from any network where an attacker could deliver a malicious link to an authenticated admin

A user is affected if the device runs a vulnerable IOS XE version (17.3.2 through 17.3.7) AND has the HTTP or HTTPS web-based management interface enabled, allowing an authenticated admin to be tricked into executing attacker-controlled CLI commands via CSRF.

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

Implement anti-CSRF tokens in the web management interface, disable the interface if unused, or restrict access through network segmentation. Users should avoid clicking untrusted links while authenticated.

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,600
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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-2024-20437 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