CVE-2024-20399
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated user in possession of Administrator credentials to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments that are passed to specific configuration CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including crafted input as the argument of an affected configuration CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with the privileges of root. Note: To successfully exploit this vulnerability on a Cisco NX-OS device, an attacker must have Administrator credentials. The following Cisco devices already allow administrative users to access the underlying operating system through the bash-shell feature, so, for these devices, this vulnerability does not grant any additional privileges: Nexus 3000 Series Switches Nexus 7000 Series Switches that are running Cisco NX-OS Software releases 8.1(1) and later Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode
- CVSS
- 6.0Mediumscored by the publisher (CNA)
- Exploited in the wild
- Yes, in CISA KEV since 2 Jul 2024CISA deadline for US federal agencies: 23 Jul 2024unvetted proof-of-concept code on github
- EPSS
- 4.3%chance of exploitation in the next 30 daystop 9% of scored CVEsFIRST score of 11 Nov 2026
- Fix
- Patch availablesee the advisories in the references
- Published
- 1 Jul 2024analysed here 12 Nov 2026
Do first. Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. (CISA's required action for this KEV entry)
Summary
Triage
- Attack surface
- Server-side
- Exploitable
- At runtime
- Attack vector
- local
- Weakness
- CWE-78 OS Command Injection
The summary, impact and action text on this page are written by our AI analysis pipeline, or taken from the NVD description when a CVE was imported from NVD. They are not the vendor's wording: check them against the sources. A longer AI executive summary and technical analysis are generated for signed-in accounts on the Max plan.
Affected products
| Product | Affected versions | Vendor says fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco Cisco NX-OS Software | 8.2(5)7.3(6)N1(1a)7.3(5)D1(1)8.4(2)7.3(6)N1(1)6.2(2)8.4(3)9.2(3)7.0(3)I5(2)8.2(1)6.0(2)A8(7a)7.0(3)I4(5)6.0(2)A6(1)7.3(1)D1(1)6.2(14a)7.0(3)I4(6)7.3(4)N1(1)7.0(3)I4(3)9.2(2v)6.0(2)A6(5b)7.3(0)D1(1)6.2(17a)7.0(3)I4(7)6.0(2)U6(1a)7.1(5)N1(1b)7.0(3)I4(1)7.0(3)I4(8)7.0(3)I4(2)7.1(4)N1(1c)7.0(3)IM3(1)6.0(2)U6(5a)6.0(2)A8(11)6.0(2)A6(4a)6.2(9)6.2(5)7.3(4)D1(1)6.2(20)9.2(1)9.2(2t)9.2(3y)7.0(3)I4(1t)6.0(2)U6(5c)6.0(2)A6(4)7.0(3)I7(6z)9.3(2)7.3(1)DY(1)7.0(3)F3(3)6.0(2)U6(6)6.2(29)7.0(3)I7(3z)7.0(3)IM7(2)6.0(2)A8(11b)6.2(9a)7.3(0)N1(1)7.0(3)I7(5a)6.2(11d)8.1(1)7.0(3)I6(1)6.0(2)U6(10)7.2(2)D1(2)7.0(3)IM3(2)6.0(2)A6(8)8.2(2)6.0(2)U6(1)7.3(2)N1(1c)7.0(3)I5(3b)8.3(2)7.3(5)N1(1)6.0(2)A6(2a)7.3(2)N1(1b)6.2(27)7.3(2)D1(3a)7.3(1)N1(1)6.0(2)U6(7)9.2(4)7.1(4)N1(1a)7.1(3)N1(4)7.0(3)IM3(2a)6.2(8b)6.0(2)A8(10)7.1(3)N1(2)6.2(13)6.0(2)A8(2)7.0(3)IC4(4)6.2(1)7.3(4)N1(1a)8.1(2)6.0(2)A6(3)6.0(2)U6(5b)7.0(3)F3(3c)7.3(3)D1(1)7.0(3)F3(1)6.0(2)U6(5)7.0(3)F3(5)7.1(2)N1(1)7.1(3)N1(3)8.2(3)6.0(2)A6(7)7.0(3)I7(2)6.2(5a)6.2(18)6.0(2)A6(5)7.0(3)IM3(2b)7.1(3)N1(1)6.0(2)U6(4a)7.0(3)I5(3)7.0(3)I7(3)6.0(2)A8(6)7.0(3)I6(2)8.3(1)6.2(3)6.2(22)7.1(1)N1(1)8.4(1)8.1(1b)7.3(0)N1(1b)7.2(2)D1(4)6.0(2)A8(5)7.3(0)DX(1)7.1(4)N1(1d)7.3(2)D1(1)7.3(2)N1(1)6.0(2)U6(8)7.1(1)N1(1a)7.0(3)IM3(3)9.3(1)6.0(2)U6(2)6.2(9b)7.1(3)N1(2a)7.3(0)N1(1a)6.0(2)A8(7)7.0(3)I7(6)7.3(2)D1(2)6.2(25)6.0(2)U6(3a)8.0(1)6.0(2)A8(11a)6.2(11e)7.1(3)N1(5)7.0(3)I4(8z)6.2(11)7.0(3)I4(9)6.2(16)6.2(19)8.2(4)6.2(2a)7.2(2)D1(3)7.1(0)N1(1b)7.0(3)I7(4)7.0(3)I7(7)6.2(5b)7.3(0)DY(1)6.0(2)A8(9)6.0(2)A8(1)7.1(5)N1(1)7.2(1)D1(1)6.2(15)6.0(2)A6(6)6.0(2)A8(10a)7.0(3)I5(1)9.3(1z)9.2(2)6.2(7)6.2(9c)7.0(3)F3(4)7.3(3)N1(1)6.2(6b)7.0(3)I4(8b)8.1(2a)7.3(2)D1(3)6.2(8)6.0(2)A8(3)6.2(11b)7.0(3)I4(6t)7.0(3)I5(3a)8.1(1a)6.2(13a)6.0(2)A8(8)7.0(3)I7(5)7.0(3)F3(3a)7.1(0)N1(1a)6.0(2)A8(4)6.0(2)A6(3a)6.0(2)A6(5a)7.0(3)F2(1)7.0(3)I4(8a)6.0(2)U6(9)7.0(3)F3(2)6.0(2)U6(2a)6.2(12)6.2(17)7.0(3)I4(4)6.2(23)6.2(13b)6.0(2)U6(3)6.2(10)6.2(6a)6.2(6)7.1(2)N1(1a)6.2(14)7.0(3)I7(1)6.2(14b)6.2(21)7.2(2)D1(1)7.0(3)F2(2)7.0(3)IA7(2)7.0(3)IA7(1)6.0(2)A8(7b)6.2(8a)6.2(11c)7.0(3)F1(1)6.0(2)A6(1a)7.1(0)N1(1)7.2(0)D1(1)6.0(2)A6(2)7.1(4)N1(1)6.0(2)A8(4a)6.2(20a)6.0(2)U6(4)8.4(1a)9.3(3)7.3(2)D1(1d)7.3(7)N1(1)6.2(24)6.2(31)7.0(3)I7(8)6.0(2)U6(10a)7.3(7)N1(1a)9.3(4)7.3(6)D1(1)6.2(26)8.2(6)6.2(33)9.3(5)8.4(2a)8.4(2b)7.3(8)N1(1)7.0(3)I7(9)7.3(7)N1(1b)6.2(24a)8.5(1)9.3(6)10.1(2)10.1(1)8.4(4)7.3(7)D1(1)8.4(2c)9.3(5w)8.2(7)7.3(9)N1(1)9.3(7)9.3(7k)7.0(3)I7(9w)10.2(1)7.3(8)N1(1a)7.3(8)D1(1)9.3(7a)8.2(7a)9.3(8)8.4(4a)8.4(2d)7.3(10)N1(1)8.4(5)7.0(3)I7(10)7.3(8)N1(1b)8.2(8)10.2(1q)10.2(2)9.3(9)7.3(9)D1(1)7.3(11)N1(1)10.2(3)8.4(6)8.4(2e)9.3(10)7.3(11)N1(1a)10.2(2a)7.3(12)N1(1)9.2(1a)8.2(9)10.3(1)10.2(4)7.3(13)N1(1)8.4(7)10.3(2)8.4(6a)9.3(11)10.3(3)10.2(5)9.4(1)9.3(2a)8.4(2f)8.2(10)9.3(12)10.4(1)8.4(8)10.3(99w)7.3(14)N1(1)10.2(6)10.3(3w)10.3(99x)10.3(3o)8.4(9)10.3(4)10.3(3p)10.3(4a)9.4(1a)10.4(2)10.3(3q)9.3(13)8.2(11)9.4(2)10.3(5)10.2(7)10.3(3x)10.3(4g)10.2(8)10.3(3r)Vendor says fixed in: not stated |
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.
Products named in our analysis
- cisco:nx-os
Fix and mitigation
WAF and other mitigations
Can a WAF block it? No. The attack needs local access to the machine, so a WAF is not on its path.
Also consider: shlex/execve-style APIs
Based on the attack vector (local or physical access). We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.
Remediation steps (AI-written)
Step-by-step remediation is generated for accounts on the Max plan, for CVEs that match a technology in their stack. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.
Exploitation evidence
- CISA KEV catalog
- Listed since 2 Jul 2024.
- CISA due date
- 23 Jul 2024, the remediation deadline for US federal agencies
- CISA required action
- Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- Public exploit code
- Unvetted proof-of-concept code on GitHub: 1 GitHub proof of concept
- CISA SSVC
- exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact totalAssessed by CISA 2 Jul 2024 (SSVC 2.0.3). Exploitation is none, poc (public proof of concept) or active.
GitHub proofs of concept
- HORKimhab/CVE-2024-203990 stars
Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.
Timeline
- 1 Jul 2024Published
- 2 Jul 2024Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild)same day later
- 2 Jul 2024CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active1 day later
- 23 Jul 2024CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies)20 days later
- 21 Oct 2025CVE record last updated456 days (about 1 year) later
- 17 Jun 2026First proof-of-concept repository on GitHub (unvetted)238 days (about 8 months) later
- 12 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com148 days (about 5 months) later
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
| Metric | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Attack vector | LocalLocal access required (shell, logged-in user). | Local access required (shell, logged-in user). |
| Attack complexity | LowRepeatable attack, no special conditions. | Repeatable attack, no special conditions. |
| Privileges required | HighThe attacker needs admin-level privileges. | The attacker needs admin-level privileges. |
| User interaction | NoneNo victim action needed. | No victim action needed. |
| Scope | UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component. | Impact stays within the vulnerable component. |
| Confidentiality | HighTotal data disclosure possible. | Total data disclosure possible. |
| Integrity | HighComplete modification possible. | Complete modification possible. |
| Availability | NoneThe service stays up. | The service stays up. |
Common questions
Is CVE-2024-20399 being exploited?
Yes. CVE-2024-20399 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.
How severe is CVE-2024-20399?
CVE-2024-20399 is rated Medium with a CVSS score of 6.0. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2024-20399?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2024-20399. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2024-20399 affect?
CVE-2024-20399 affects cisco:nx-os. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
References
3 references in the CVE record, grouped by the tags the record gives them.
Other links (3)
- sec.cloudapps.cisco.com /security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-nxos-cmd-injection-xD9Oh
- cisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2024-20399
- sygnia.co /threat-reports-and-advisories/china-nexus-threat-group-velvet-ant-exploits-cisc
Where the data on this page comes from
- CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
- NVD: CVSS and CPE data
- CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
- CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
- FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
- PoC-in-GitHub: GitHub repositories that claim a proof of concept
Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.
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