# CVE-2020-3545: Cisco FXOS Software Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

> An authenticated local attacker with admin credentials can trigger a stack-based buffer overflow to execute arbitrary code with root privileges.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **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:** 4 Sep 2020
- **Updated:** 13 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7qq2-vhg3-r8g8

## What is CVE-2020-3545?

CVE-2020-3545 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System, published on 4 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 Cisco FXOS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrative credentials to cause a buffer overflow condition. The vulnerability is due to incorrect bounds checking of values that are parsed from a specific file. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by supplying a crafted file that, when it is processed, may cause a stack-based buffer overflow. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system with root privileges. An attacker would need to have valid administrative credentials to exploit this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-3545?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-3545?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-3545 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-3545 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-3545 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System

- [CVE-2018-0310](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0310/): Information disclosure in Cisco FXOS and NX-OS unknown (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-6435](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6435/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-1368](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1368/): Memory corruption in Cisco NX-OS Software (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-3456](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3456/): Cisco FXOS Software Firepower Chassis Manager Cross-Site Request Forgery Vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-3172](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3172/): Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Arbitrary Code Execution and Denial of Service Vulnerability (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-3545 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-3545 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System, published on 4 Sep 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-2020-3545 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System. 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-2020-3545/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3545/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-3545
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3545
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-3545

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3545/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.