# CVE-2024-20429: Command injection in Cisco Secure Email

> Authenticated attackers can execute arbitrary system commands with root privileges on Cisco Secure Email Gateway via crafted HTTP requests.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 1 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9h6c-2f95-gmf7

## What is CVE-2024-20429?

CVE-2024-20429 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Asyncos, published on 17 Jul 2024. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco AsyncOS for Secure Email Gateway could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary system commands on an affected device.

 This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation in certain portions of the web-based management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with root privileges. To successfully exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need at least valid Operator credentials.

Weakness: CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-20429?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Asyncos.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-20429?

No fix has been published for CVE-2024-20429 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2024-20429 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-20429 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Asyncos

- [CVE-2025-20393](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20393/): Cisco Multiple Products Improper Input Validation (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-76519](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76519/): Cisco Secure Email Gateway Relative Path Traversal (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-76461](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76461/): Cisco Secure Email Gateway SQL Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-20435](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20435/): Command injection in Cisco Secure Web Appliance (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-15956](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-15956/): Cisco Web Security Appliance Unauthorized Device Reset Vulnerability (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-20429 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-20429 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Asyncos, published on 17 Jul 2024. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-20429 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Asyncos. 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-2024-20429/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20429/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-20429
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-20429
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-20429

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20429/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.