CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-3531 — Cisco Iot Field Network Director security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.8

A vulnerability in the REST API of Cisco IoT Field Network Director (FND) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to access the back-end database of an affected system. The vulnerability exists because the affected software does not properly authenticate REST API calls. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by obtaining a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) token and then using the token with REST API requests. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access the back-end database of the affected device and read, alter, or drop information.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2020-11-18
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-306

Affected products

  • cisco / iot_field_network_director

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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