CVE-2020-3503
Cisco IOS XE Software Guest Shell Unauthorized File System Access Vulnerability
- Published
- Updated
- Reserved
- Assigned by
- cisco
Description
A vulnerability in the file system permissions of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to obtain read and write access to critical configuration or system files. The vulnerability is due to insufficient file system permissions on an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to an affected device's guest shell, and accessing or modifying restricted files. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to view or modify restricted information or configurations that are normally not accessible to system administrators.
Timeline
ID reserved
By cisco
- 10 months later
· 10 months later
Published
- 4 years later
· 4 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| ciscoCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | Medium6.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | Medium6.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.28% · top 80% of all CVEs (8 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 6.0.
Weakness
Affected products
- affected n/a
What to do
Exploitation: The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) is not aware of any public announcements or malicious use of the vulnerability that is described in this advisory.
References (1)
- 20200924 Cisco IOS XE Software Guest Shell Unauthorized File System Access Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_CISCOx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2020-3503)Record last updated .