Path Traversal in Cisco Secure Email
CVE-2024-20401
A vulnerability in the content scanning and message filtering features of Cisco Secure Email Gateway could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to overwrite arbitrary files on the underlying operating system. This vulnerability is due to improper handling of email attachments when file analysis and content filters are enabled. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending an email that contains a crafted attachment through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to replace any file on the underlying file system. The attacker could then perform any of the following actions: add users with root privileges, modify the device configuration, execute arbitrary code, or cause a permanent denial of service (DoS) condition on the affected device. Note: Manual intervention is required to recover from the DoS condition. Customers are advised to contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to help recover a device in this condition.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.023 (82.5th percentile), scored .
Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 82nd percentile — 82.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.023 · newest: 0.023 · change: 0.000
Affected products
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2024-20401?
- CVE-2024-20401 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Cisco Secure Email, classified under Absolute Path Traversal. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2024-07-17.
- How severe is CVE-2024-20401?
- Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2024-20401 known to be exploited?
- 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.