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CVE-2020-3170· NVD / CVE Program· CNA cisco

Cisco NX-OS Software NX-API Denial of Service Vulnerability

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 22/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.7% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 77.4% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.
  • Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).

Low priority for now. Update when a fix is released; follow the vendor's advisory.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

A vulnerability in the NX-API feature of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an NX-API system process to unexpectedly restart. The vulnerability is due to incorrect validation of the HTTP header of a request that is sent to the NX-API. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to the NX-API on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition in the NX-API service; however, the Cisco NX-OS device itself would still be available and passing network traffic. Note: The NX-API feature is disabled by default.

MediumCVSS 5.3 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded
Published
Feb 26, 2020
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
1.7% · 77th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

22

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
21 / 40 · 5.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
1 / 30 · 1.7%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
5.3
CNA · cisco
5.3
agree

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2020-3170

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
cisconx-os
ciscomds 9132t
ciscomds 9148s
ciscomds 9148t
ciscomds 9216
ciscomds 9216a
ciscomds 9216i
ciscomds 9222i
ciscomds 9506
ciscomds 9509
ciscomds 9513
ciscomds 9706

and 4 more

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • cisco nx-osbefore 8.4\(1\)
  • cisco nx-osbefore 8.2\(5\)

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (cisco). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Cisco Cisco NX-OS Software 7.3(2)D1(1d)

    • unspecified and later · before n/aaffected

Same product

cisco: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2024-20399Cisco NX-OS Software CLI Command Injection VulnerabilityKEV
    57Plan
  • CVE-2018-0301A vulnerability in the NX-API feature of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to craft a packet to the manag
    44Plan
  • CVE-2016-1453Buffer overflow in the Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV) GRE feature in Cisco NX-OS 5.0 through 7.3 on Nexus 7000 and 7700 devices allo
    41Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-3165Feb 26, 2020 · Cisco NX-OS Software Border Gateway Protocol MD5 Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
    32Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-3168Feb 26, 2020 · Cisco Nexus 1000V Switch for VMware vSphere Secure Login Enhancements Denial of Service Vulnerability
    30Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2020-3174Feb 26, 2020 · Cisco NX-OS Software Anycast Gateway Invalid ARP Vulnerability
    18Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)

Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.

All national notices →

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
low · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
Low

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-20 · Improper Input Validation

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records