# CVE-2020-3216: Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

> An unauthenticated physical attacker can bypass authentication to gain root shell access on Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN devices by interrupting boot initialization.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **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-vx84-h8r2-7438

## What is CVE-2020-3216?

CVE-2020-3216 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software, 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 Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software could allow an unauthenticated, physical attacker to bypass authentication and gain unrestricted access to the root shell of an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the affected software has insufficient authentication mechanisms for certain commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by stopping the boot initialization of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass authentication and gain unrestricted access to the root shell of the affected device.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-3216?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios Xe Sd-Wan.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-3216?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-3216 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-3216 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-3216 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software

- [CVE-2021-34727](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-34727/): Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software Buffer Overflow Vulnerability (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-3375](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3375/): Cisco SD-WAN Solution Software Buffer Overflow Vulnerability (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-1305](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1305/): Cisco SD-WAN vManage Authorization Bypass Vulnerabilities (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-20035](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20035/): Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software Command Injection Vulnerability (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2021-34725](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-34725/): Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software Command Injection Vulnerability (medium 6.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-3216 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-3216 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software, 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-2020-3216 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software. 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-2020-3216/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3216/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-3216
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3216
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-3216

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3216/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.