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CVE-2020-3172· NVD / CVE Program· CNA cisco

Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Arbitrary Code Execution and Denial of Service Vulnerability

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 36/100)

  • 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: 1.8% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 79.4% of all records.
  • Someone on the same network segment can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • 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 Cisco Discovery Protocol feature of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because of insufficiently validated Cisco Discovery Protocol packet headers. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to a Layer 2-adjacent affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow that could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a DoS condition on the affected device. Note: Cisco Discovery Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent). Note: This vulnerability is different from the following Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol vulnerabilities that Cisco announced on Feb. 5, 2020: Cisco FXOS, IOS XR, and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability and Cisco NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Remote Code Execution Vulnerability.

HighCVSS 8.8 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded
Published
Feb 26, 2020
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
1.8% · 79th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

36

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
35 / 40 · 8.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
1 / 30 · 1.8%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
8.8
CNA · cisco
8.8
agree

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

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-2020-3172

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
ciscofirepower extensible operating system
ciscofirepower 4110
ciscofirepower 4115
ciscofirepower 4120
ciscofirepower 4125
ciscofirepower 4140
ciscofirepower 4145
ciscofirepower 4150
ciscofirepower 9300
ciscoucs manager
ciscoucs 6248up
ciscoucs 6296up

and 95 more

Affected versions

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

  • cisco firepower extensible operating system2.7 and later · before 2.7.1.106
  • cisco firepower extensible operating systembefore 2.6.1.187
  • cisco nx-osall versions
  • cisco nx-os13.2(7.230)
  • cisco nx-os14.2(1i)
  • cisco nx-os5.2(1)sv5(1.2)
  • cisco nx-os7.0(3)i3(0.191)
  • cisco nx-os7.3(0)d1(0.140)
  • cisco nx-os7.3(0)d1(0.146)
  • cisco nx-os7.3(5)n1(1)
  • cisco ucs manager4.0 and later · before 4.0\(4g\)
  • cisco ucs managerbefore 3.2\(3n\)

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 Unified Computing System (Managed)

    • unspecified and later · before n/aaffected

Same product

cisco: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2015-6435An unspecified CGI script in Cisco FX-OS before 1.1.2 on Firepower 9000 devices and Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) Manager before 2.2(
    42Plan
  • CVE-2017-12277A vulnerability in the Smart Licensing Manager service of the Cisco Firepower 4100 Series Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) and Firepower 9300
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2020-3456Cisco FXOS Software Firepower Chassis Manager Cross-Site Request Forgery Vulnerability
    35Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-3120Feb 5, 2020 · Cisco FXOS, IOS XR, and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability
    26Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-3169Feb 26, 2020 · Cisco FXOS Software CLI Command Injection Vulnerability
    26Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2020-3504Aug 27, 2020 · Cisco UCS Manager Software Local Management CLI Denial of Service Vulnerability
    13Monitor

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

  • Someone on the same network segment 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
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Adjacent
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-20 · Improper Input Validation

CVSS vector

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

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