{"id":"CVE-2020-3172","aliases":["EUVD-2020-24443","GHSA-cvm3-233f-g2vf"],"status":"published","title":"Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Arbitrary Code Execution and Denial of Service Vulnerability","description":"A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol feature of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because of insufficiently validated Cisco Discovery Protocol packet headers. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to a Layer 2-adjacent affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow that could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a DoS condition on the affected device. Note: Cisco Discovery Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent). Note: This vulnerability is different from the following Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol vulnerabilities that Cisco announced on Feb. 5, 2020: Cisco FXOS, IOS XR, and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability and Cisco NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Remote Code Execution Vulnerability.","severity":{"version":"3.0","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-08","score":0.01894,"percentile":0.79747,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":false},"cwes":["CWE-20"],"published":"2020-02-26T16:50:40Z","modified":"2026-06-17T03:17:33Z","products":[{"vendor":"cisco","product":"cisco unified computing system (managed)"},{"vendor":"cisco","product":"firepower_extensible_operating_system"},{"vendor":"cisco","product":"nx-os"},{"vendor":"cisco","product":"ucs_manager"}],"references":[{"url":"https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20200226-fxos-nxos-cdp","tags":["vendor-advisory","x_refsource_CISCO","x_transferred","Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3172"},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-cvm3-233f-g2vf"}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2020-3172","title":"Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Arbitrary Code Execution and Denial of Service Vulnerability","description":"A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol feature of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because of insufficiently validated Cisco Discovery Protocol packet headers. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to a Layer 2-adjacent affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow that could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a DoS condition on the affected device. Note: Cisco Discovery Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent). Note: This vulnerability is different from the following Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol vulnerabilities that Cisco announced on Feb. 5, 2020: Cisco FXOS, IOS XR, and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability and Cisco NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Remote Code Execution Vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2020-02-26T16:50:40.7Z","modified":"2024-11-15T17:38:15.493Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.0","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-20"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:35:51.923913Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2020-24443","description":"A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol feature of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because of insufficiently validated Cisco Discovery Protocol packet headers. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to a Layer 2-adjacent affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow that could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a DoS condition on the affected device. Note: Cisco Discovery Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent). Note: This vulnerability is different from the following Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol vulnerabilities that Cisco announced on Feb. 5, 2020: Cisco FXOS, IOS XR, and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability and Cisco NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Remote Code Execution Vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2020-02-26T16:50:40Z","modified":"2024-11-15T17:38:15Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.0","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-03T00:04:58.605338Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-cvm3-233f-g2vf","title":"A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol feature of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS...","description":"A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol feature of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because of insufficiently validated Cisco Discovery Protocol packet headers. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to a Layer 2-adjacent affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow that could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a DoS condition on the affected device. Note: Cisco Discovery Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent). Note: This vulnerability is different from the following Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol vulnerabilities that Cisco announced on Feb. 5, 2020: Cisco FXOS, IOS XR, and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability and Cisco NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Remote Code Execution Vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2022-05-24T17:09:42Z","modified":"2023-04-28T05:08:43Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-20"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:54:33.975596Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2020-3172","description":"A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol feature of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because of insufficiently validated Cisco Discovery Protocol packet headers. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to a Layer 2-adjacent affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow that could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code as root or cause a DoS condition on the affected device. Note: Cisco Discovery Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent). Note: This vulnerability is different from the following Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol vulnerabilities that Cisco announced on Feb. 5, 2020: Cisco FXOS, IOS XR, and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability and Cisco NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Remote Code Execution Vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2020-02-26T17:15:13.343Z","modified":"2026-06-17T03:17:33.09Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"primary"},{"version":"3.0","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"2.0","score":8.3,"vector":"AV:A/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C","level":"high","assessor":"primary"}],"cwes":["CWE-20"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:05:54.796125Z"}]}}