CVE-2020-3393 Cisco IOS XE Software IOx Application Hosting Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
An authenticated local attacker can escalate privileges to root on Cisco IOS XE devices by exploiting input validation and RBAC flaws in the application-hosting subsystem.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2020-3393?
CVE-2020-3393 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 24 Sep 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 application-hosting subsystem of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to root on an affected device. The attacker could execute IOS XE commands outside the application-hosting subsystem Docker container as well as on the underlying Linux operating system. These commands could be run as the root user. The vulnerability is due to a combination of two factors: (a) incomplete input validation of the user payload of CLI commands, and (b) improper role-based access control (RBAC) when commands are issued at the command line within the application-hosting subsystem. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using a CLI command with crafted user input. A successful exploit could allow the lower-privileged attacker to execute arbitrary CLI commands with root privileges. The attacker would need valid user credentials to exploit this vulnerability.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-3393?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Cisco Ios Xe.
How do I fix CVE-2020-3393?
No fix has been published for CVE-2020-3393 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2020-3393 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-3393 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios Xe
- CVE-2023-20198 Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation
- CVE-2018-0151 Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software Quality of Service Remote Code Execution
- CVE-2023-20273 Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection
- CVE-2025-20188 Hardcoded credentials in Cisco IOS XE Software
- CVE-2021-34770 Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9000 Family Wireless Controllers CAPWAP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Sources
Also known as GHSA-h3p2-pf2r-9cvv.