CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-3394 — Cisco Nx-Os security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

A vulnerability in the Enable Secret feature of Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches and Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode could allow an authenticated, local attacker to issue the enable command and get full administrative privileges. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need to have valid credentials for the affected device. The vulnerability is due to a logic error in the implementation of the enable command. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to the device and issuing the enable command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain full administrative privileges without using the enable password. Note: The Enable Secret feature is disabled by default.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2020-08-27
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-285, CWE-862

Affected products

  • cisco / nx-os

Matched remediation archetype

Authorization bypass, IDOR, and cross-tenant access

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map object and action authorization checks across API, UI, batch, import/export, and background-job paths.
  • Identify tenant, ownership, role, and policy boundaries for affected resources and administrative operations.
  • Use synthetic fixtures to compare intended access matrices without accessing another user's real data.

Remediate safely

  • Enforce server-side authorization at each resource access and state transition using the authenticated principal and trusted tenant context.
  • Scope data queries by tenant and ownership; treat client-supplied identifiers, roles, and policy claims as untrusted.
  • Add deny-by-default policy tests for horizontal and vertical access across every affected transport.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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