CVE-2020-3524
mediumpriority · track · 27OT risk · elevatedEPSS 0.003 · 21 %ileEURUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
A vulnerability in the Cisco IOS XE ROM Monitor (ROMMON) Software for Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers, Cisco ASR 920 Series Aggregation Services Routers, Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers, and Cisco cBR-8 Converged Broadband Routers could allow an unauthenticated, physical attacker to break the chain of trust and load a compromised software image on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to the presence of a debugging configuration option in the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to an affected device through the console, forcing the device into ROMMON mode, and writing a malicious pattern using that specific option on the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to break the chain of trust and load a compromised software image on the affected device. A compromised software image is any software image that has not been digitally signed by Cisco.
remediations
Vendor fix, mitigation, or workaround guidance, as published by each source.
A vendor fix is available.
- FixedCisco IOS XE Software Bootloader (ROMMON) cisco_csaf
Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability.
https://software.cisco.com
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (8)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
advisories (1)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- cisco-sa-rommon-secboot-7JgVLVYCCisco IOS XE ROM Monitor Software Vulnerability2020-09-24csaf · cisco_csafUS
A vulnerability in the Cisco IOS XE ROM Monitor (ROMMON) Software for Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers, Cisco ASR 920 Series Aggregation Services Routers, Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers, and Cisco cBR-8 Converged Broadband Routers could allow an unauthenticated, physical attacker to break the chain of trust and load a compromised software image on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to the presence of a debugging configuration option in the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to an affected device through the console, forcing the device into ROMMON mode, and writing a malicious pattern using that specific option on the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to break the chain of trust and load a compromised software image on the affected device. A compromised software image is any software image that has not been digitally signed by Cisco. Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.
also known as (4)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
sources
Which sources assert this record, and when.
references (7)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- http://www.nsfocus.net/vulndb/49463cnnvd
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3524cnnvd
- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-rommon-secboot-7JgVLVYCcnnvd
- https://vigilance.fr/vulnerability/Cisco-IOS-IOS-XE-multiple-vulnerabilities-33416cnnvd
- https://www.auscert.org.au/bulletins/ESB-2020.3283/cnnvd
- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-rommon-secboot-7JgVLVYCenisa_euvd
- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-rommon-secboot-7JgVLVYCVendor Advisorynvd
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