dbcve.org
Meraki Mx65 FirmwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2024-20498

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-10-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 18.211.2 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Multiple vulnerabilities in the Cisco AnyConnect VPN server of Cisco Meraki MX and Cisco Meraki Z Series Teleworker Gateway devices could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a DoS condition in the AnyConnect service on an affected device. These vulnerabilities are due to insufficient validation of client-supplied parameters while establishing an SSL VPN session. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending a crafted HTTPS request to the VPN server of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the Cisco AnyConnect VPN server to restart, resulting in the failure of the established SSL VPN connections and forcing remote users to initiate a new VPN connection and reauthenticate. A sustained attack could prevent new SSL VPN connections from being established. Note: When the attack traffic stops, the Cisco AnyConnect VPN server recovers gracefully without requiring manual intervention.

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

Multiple vulnerabilities in the Cisco AnyConnect VPN server on Cisco Meraki MX and Z Series Teleworker Gateway devices allow unauthenticated remote attackers to send crafted HTTPS requests with insufficiently validated client-supplied parameters during SSL VPN session establishment, causing the VPN server to restart and terminate active connections.

MitigationApply vendor-provided patches from Cisco/Meraki for the affected MX and Z Series devices. Until patches are available, consider network-level mitigations such as rate limiting on VPN endpoints or restricting VPN access to known IP ranges.

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
Meraki Mx65 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 17.6.0, < 18.211.2
Meraki Mx64 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 17.6.0, < 18.211.2
Meraki Z4c FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 16.2, < 18.211.2
Meraki Z4 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 16.2, < 18.211.2
Meraki Z3c FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 16.2, < 18.211.2
Meraki Z3 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 16.2, < 18.211.2
Meraki Vmx FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 16.2, < 18.211.2
Meraki Mx600 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 16.2, < 18.211.2

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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 Meraki device model
    Log into the Meraki dashboard or check the device label to confirm the model number is MX64, MX65, Z3, Z3c, Z4, Z4c, VMX, or MX600
    Affected if The device model is not in this list, the vulnerability does not apply
  2. Check the installed firmware version
    Access the Meraki dashboard, navigate to Network-wide > Monitor > Appliance status, or use the API call GET /devices/{serial} to retrieve the firmware version field
    Affected if The firmware version is greater than or equal to 16.2 (or 17.6.0 for MX64/MX65) AND less than 18.211.2
  3. Verify SSL VPN is enabled
    In the Meraki dashboard, go to Security & SD-WAN > Client VPN, or check via API: GET /networks/{networkId}/clientVpn
    Affected if Client VPN (AnyConnect) is not enabled, the vulnerability cannot be triggered even on a vulnerable version

A device is affected if it is an MX64, MX65, Z3, Z3c, Z4, Z4c, VMX, or MX600 running firmware version 16.2 or higher (or 17.6.0+ for MX64/MX65) but below 18.211.2, AND has Client VPN enabled

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 18.211.2 or later
Fixed in 18.211.2
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-provided patches from Cisco/Meraki for the affected MX and Z Series devices. Until patches are available, consider network-level mitigations such as rate limiting on VPN endpoints or restricting VPN access to known IP ranges.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firmware version 18.211.2 or later for all affected Meraki MX and Z Series devices

  1. 1. Log into the Meraki Dashboard and navigate to the affected device (MX or Z Series).
  2. 2. Navigate to the device's Firmware section in Settings.
  3. 3. Check the current firmware version to confirm it is affected (less than 18.211.2).
  4. 4. In the Firmware upgrade settings, select the 'Specific version' option and choose version 18.211.2 or later.
  5. 5. Click 'Save' and then 'Apply' to initiate the firmware upgrade.
  6. 6. Wait for the upgrade to complete and verify the new firmware version is 18.211.2 or higher.
  7. 7. Test SSL VPN functionality to confirm the AnyConnect VPN server is operating normally.
Caveat Review Meraki release notes for 18.211.2 for any changes to VPN configuration or behavior; standard firmware upgrade precautions apply (back up configuration, schedule during maintenance window)

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

Fix this in Meraki Mx65 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,980
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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-2024-20498 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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