# CVE-2020-3208: Cisco IOS Software for Cisco 800 Series Industrial Integrated Services Routers Image Verification Bypass Vulnerability

> Authenticated local attackers with high privileges can bypass image verification to boot malicious software on Cisco Industrial Routers.

- **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:** 3 Jun 2020
- **Updated:** 15 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xcmg-f9fr-wgj3

## What is CVE-2020-3208?

CVE-2020-3208 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios, published on 3 Jun 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the image verification feature of Cisco IOS Software for Cisco 809 and 829 Industrial Integrated Services Routers (Industrial ISRs) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to boot a malicious software image on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient access restrictions on the area of code that manages the image verification feature. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by first authenticating to the targeted device and then logging in to the Virtual Device Server (VDS) of an affected device. The attacker could then, from the VDS shell, disable Cisco IOS Software integrity (image) verification. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to boot a malicious Cisco IOS Software image on the targeted device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid user credentials at privilege level 15.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-3208?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-3208?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-3208 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-3208 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-3208 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios

- [CVE-2017-12240](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12240/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software DHCP Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-3881](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-3881/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-0167](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0167/): Cisco IOS, XR, and XE Software Buffer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-6736](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6736/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software SNMP Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-6737](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6737/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software SNMP Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-3208 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-3208 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios, published on 3 Jun 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-2020-3208 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Ios. 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-2020-3208/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3208/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-3208
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3208
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-3208

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3208/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.