CVE-2020-3513 Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco ASR 900 Series Route Switch Processor 3 Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerabilities
Authenticated local attackers with high privileges can execute arbitrary code at bootup by manipulating ROMMON variables, compromising the device's chain of trust.
- 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-2020-3513?
CVE-2020-3513 is a medium-severity code injection 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
Multiple vulnerabilities in the initialization routines that are executed during bootup of Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco ASR 900 Series Aggregation Services Routers with a Route Switch Processor 3 (RSP3) installed could allow an authenticated, local attacker with high privileges to execute persistent code at bootup and break the chain of trust. These vulnerabilities are due to incorrect validations by boot scripts when specific ROM monitor (ROMMON) variables are set. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by copying a specific file to the local file system of an affected device and defining specific ROMMON variables. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to run arbitrary code on the underlying operating system (OS) with root privileges. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker would need to have access to the root shell on the device or have physical access to the device.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-3513?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Cisco Ios Xe.
How do I fix CVE-2020-3513?
No fix has been published for CVE-2020-3513 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and never evaluate templates, expressions or code built from user input. More about Code injection.
Is CVE-2020-3513 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-3513 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-59cc-3745-q8c3.