# CVE-2024-20370: Privilege escalation in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software

> An authenticated local attacker can elevate privileges to root on Cisco ASA and FTD devices by exploiting insecure file permissions and CLI configurations.

- **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:** 23 Oct 2024
- **Updated:** 26 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cqv2-qp3h-xq97

## What is CVE-2024-20370?

CVE-2024-20370 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software, published on 23 Oct 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the Cisco FXOS CLI feature on specific hardware platforms for Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate their administrative privileges to root. The attacker would need valid administrative credentials on the device to exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability exists because certain system configurations and executable files have insecure storage and permissions. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating on the device and then performing a series of steps that includes downloading malicious system files and accessing the Cisco FXOS CLI to configure the attack. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain root access on the device.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-20370?


## How do I fix CVE-2024-20370?

No fix has been published for CVE-2024-20370 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2024-20370 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-20370 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-20370 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-20370 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software, published on 23 Oct 2024. 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-2024-20370 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 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-2024-20370/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20370/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-20370
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-20370
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-20370

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20370/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.