# CVE-2020-3176: Cisco Remote PHY Device Software Command Injection Vulnerability

> Authenticated local attackers can execute arbitrary commands as root on Cisco Remote PHY devices due to improper input sanitization.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.7 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 4 Mar 2020
- **Updated:** 15 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4m8j-77pp-fvjx

## What is CVE-2020-3176?

CVE-2020-3176 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Remote PHY, published on 4 Mar 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in Cisco Remote PHY Device Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute commands on the underlying Linux shell of an affected device with root privileges. The vulnerability exists because the affected software does not properly sanitize user-supplied input. An attacker who has valid administrator access to an affected device could exploit this vulnerability by supplying certain CLI commands with crafted arguments. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to run arbitrary commands as the root user, which could result in a complete system compromise.

Weakness: CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command), CWE-77 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-3176?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Cisco Remote Phy 120 Firmware, Cisco Remote Phy 220 Firmware, Cisco Remote Phy Shelf 7200 Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-3176?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-3176 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-3176 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-3176 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-3176 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-3176 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Remote PHY, published on 4 Mar 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-3176 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Remote PHY. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3176/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3176/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-3176
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3176
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-3176

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3176/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.