CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-3454 — Cisco Nx-Os security vulnerability

High CVSS 9

A vulnerability in the Call Home feature of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to inject arbitrary commands that could be executed with root privileges on the underlying operating system (OS). The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of specific Call Home configuration parameters when the software is configured for transport method HTTP. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying parameters within the Call Home configuration on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges on the underlying OS.

Severity
High
CVSS
9 (2.0)
Published
2020-08-27
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-20, CWE-78

Affected products

  • cisco / nx-os

Matched remediation archetype

Command, code, expression, and template injection

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
  • Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
  • Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.

Remediate safely

  • Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
  • Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
  • Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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