# CVE-2020-3457: Cisco FXOS Software Command Injection Vulnerability

> Authenticated local attackers can inject commands into Cisco FXOS CLI to execute arbitrary code with root privileges.

- **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:** 21 Oct 2020
- **Updated:** 13 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-84qj-wpjh-wvj6

## What is CVE-2020-3457?

CVE-2020-3457 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, published on 21 Oct 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 CLI of Cisco FXOS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to inject arbitrary commands that are executed with root privileges. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of commands supplied by the user. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to a device and submitting crafted input to the affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands on the underlying operating system with root privileges.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-3457?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System, Cisco Firepower Threat Defense.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-3457?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-3457 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-3457 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-3457 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software

- [CVE-2025-20333](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20333/): Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Buffer Overflow (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2016-6366](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6366/): Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SNMP Buffer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-20349](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20349/): Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Heap Inspection (high 8.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-20353](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20353/): Cisco ASA and FTD Denial of Service (high 8.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2016-6367](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6367/): Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) CLI Remote Code Execution (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-3457 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-3457 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, published on 21 Oct 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-2020-3457 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance 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-2020-3457/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3457/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-3457
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3457
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-3457

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3457/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.