What it is
CVE-2020-3118 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Cisco Cisco IOS XR Software. A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol implementation for Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated,...
Vulnerability report
Exploited in the wild
Confirmed confidence
In CISA KEV
CVE-2020-3118
Cisco IOS XR Software
Cisco / Cisco IOS XR Software · affected before 6.6.3
- Severity
- CVSS 8.8 · High
- Confidence
- Confirmed
- Exploit status
- Exploited in the wild
- EPSS
- 11.7%
- First observed
- —
- Last observed
- —
Decision summary
What security teams need to know first
Direct answers before the deeper technical record.
Is it exploited?
Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.
Who is affected?
Cisco / Cisco IOS XR Software affected before 6.6.3.
What should we do?
Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.
Overview
Cisco IOS XR Software
A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol implementation for Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a reload on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of string input from certain fields in Cisco Discovery Protocol messages. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to an affected device.
A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a stack overflow, which could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code with administrative privileges on an affected device. 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).
Vendor
Product
Affected
Status
Cisco
Cisco IOS XR Software
Before 6.6.3
Affected
- Published
- 05 Feb 2020
- Exploitation Reported
- 03 Nov 2021
- Attack vector
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
Tags
edge
cisa
ios
CVE References
- CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-3118
- 20200205 Cisco IOS XR Software Cisco Discovery Protocol Format String Vulnerability tools.cisco.com · Vendor Advisory https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory...
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/156203/Cisco-Discovery-Protocol-CDP-Re... packetstormsecurity.com · CVE Record http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156203/Cisco-Discovery-Protocol-...
Exploitation evidence
Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited
Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.
Exploited in the wild
CISA
Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.
Known exploited vulnerability sources
Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.
Learn about Pro API access| Source | Added |
|---|---|
| CISA First | 2021-11-03 00:00 UTC |
Detection
Operational artifacts and observed signals
Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.
Observed signals
- Request targets
- 0
- User-Agents
- 0
Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.
Scanner coverage
No scanner integrations recorded yet.
Virtual patch status
No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.
Learn about virtual patches →No detection artifacts or sensor request patterns are available for this CVE yet.
Check back as sensor telemetry and scanner integrations are updated.
Risk and context
Severity, weaknesses, and research context
CVSS v3.0
8.8
High
CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
11.7%
Timeline
From disclosure to observed exploitation
-
Added to CISA KEV
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
-
CVE published
Vulnerability disclosed publicly
-
CVE ID reserved
Identifier reserved by the CNA
Pro API
Automate this intelligence
Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.
- Evidence confidence and provenance
- First-party sensor telemetry
- PoC and scanner references
- Affected versions and enrichment
- Automation-ready JSON delivery
GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2020-3118
Free JSON includes basic KEV fields{
"cve_id": "CVE-2020-3118",
"confidence": "Confirmed",
"cvss_score": 8.8,
"cvss_estimated": false,
"epss_score": 0.11685,
"exploit_status": {
"exploited_in_the_wild": true,
"active_exploitation_observed": false
},
"sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}Early warning alerts
Get alerts on high-impact exploitation
Receive curator-selected alerts when exploitation activity warrants attention. Each alert includes the evidence and context needed to decide what requires attention now.