CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-3602 — Cisco Staros security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.2

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco StarOS operating system for Cisco ASR 5000 Series Routers could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted commands to the CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the root user on the affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to have valid credentials on an affected device and know the password for the cli test-commands command.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.2 (2.0)
Published
2020-10-08
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-20, CWE-78

Affected products

  • cisco / staros

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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