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CVE-2020-3181

Cisco Email Security Appliance Uncontrolled Resource Exhaustion Vulnerability

6.5 Medium

A vulnerability in the malware detection functionality in Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) in Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliances (ESAs) could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust resources on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient control over system memory allocation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted email through the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an email attachment that contains malware to be delivered to a user and cause email processing delays.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

Exploit likelihood

1.56%Up 1.0 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 6.5

Cisco Email Security Appliance Uncontrolled Resource Exhaustion Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the malware detection functionality in Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) in Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliances (ESAs) could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust resources on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient control over system memory allocation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted email through the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an email attachment that contains malware to be delivered to a user and cause email processing delays.

Record
CVE-2020-3181
CVSS 3.0
6.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-24452 6.5

A vulnerability in the malware detection functionality in Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) in Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliances (ESAs) could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust resources on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient control over system memory allocation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted email through the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an email attachment that contains malware to be delivered to a user and cause email processing delays.

Record
EUVD-2020-24452
CVSS 3.0
6.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-76gp-2rvp-j8f4 No score

A vulnerability in the malware detection functionality in Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP)...

A vulnerability in the malware detection functionality in Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) in Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliances (ESAs) could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust resources on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient control over system memory allocation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted email through the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an email attachment that contains malware to be delivered to a user and cause email processing delays.

Record
GHSA-76gp-2rvp-j8f4
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 6.5

A vulnerability in the malware detection functionality in Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) in Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliances (ESAs) could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust resources on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient control over system memory allocation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted email through the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an email attachment that contains malware to be delivered to a user and cause email processing delays.

Record
CVE-2020-3181
CVSS 3.1
6.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
CVSS 3.0
6.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
CVSS 2.0
6.4 MediumAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
facts
aliases, publishedEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2020-3181 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.5) in Cisco Email Security Appliance, published March 4, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.56%, the 75th percentile. No source names a fixed version.

References

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