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CVE-2020-3524

Cisco IOS XE ROM Monitor Software Vulnerability

6.4 Medium

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.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Physical
Complexity
High
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

0.29%Down 0.1 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 6.4

Cisco IOS XE ROM Monitor Software Vulnerability

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.

Record
CVE-2020-3524
CVSS 3.0
6.4 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-284
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-24795 6.4

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.

Record
EUVD-2020-24795
CVSS 3.0
6.4 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-wvf6-cqwc-cf6x 6.8

A vulnerability in the Cisco IOS XE ROM Monitor (ROMMON) Software for Cisco 4000 Series...

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.

Record
GHSA-wvf6-cqwc-cf6x
CVSS 3.1
6.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-284, CWE-862
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 6.8

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.

Record
CVE-2020-3524
CVSS 3.1
6.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 3.0
6.4 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0
6.9 MediumAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Weakness
CWE-284, CWE-862
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

History

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

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

In short

CVE-2020-3524 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.4) in Cisco Ios Xe Rom Monitor, published September 24, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.29%, the 21st percentile. No source names a fixed version.

References

MoveEnter Open