CVE-2024-20265
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NSummary
CVE-2024-20265 is a medium-severity Trust Boundary Violation (CWE-501) vulnerability in Cisco Access Point (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 5.9 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked at the 16th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) and AC-16 (Security and Privacy Attributes) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-17980
Vulnerability Data
A vulnerability in the boot process of Cisco Access Point (AP) Software could allow an unauthenticated, physical attacker to bypass the Cisco Secure Boot functionality and load a software image that has been tampered with on an affected device. This…
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vulnerability exists because unnecessary commands are available during boot time at the physical console. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by interrupting the boot process and executing specific commands to bypass the Cisco Secure Boot validation checks and load an image that has been tampered with. This image would have been previously downloaded onto the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to load the image once. The Cisco Secure Boot functionality is not permanently compromised.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Information flow enforcement directly stops trusted and untrusted data from being combined by applying rules that govern allowable data movements and combinations.
Associating explicit security attributes with data objects enables enforcement mechanisms that keep trust levels from being mixed inside structures.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure-development practices (coding standards, reviews, validation) directly prevent mixing trusted and untrusted data inside the same structures.
Documented data-flow representations make trust boundaries explicit and help surface mixing of trusted/untrusted data.
Logical segmentation and access controls enforce separation between trust domains, reducing the chance of co-mingled data structures.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure architecture principles require explicit trust zones and data segregation, mitigating mixing of trusted/untrusted data.
Secure coding standards can enforce input validation and data tagging, but do not guarantee architectural separation.
Secure development lifecycle mandates separation of trusted and untrusted data flows, directly preventing mixing in the same structure.
Application security requirements include explicit trust-boundary definitions and data classification at interfaces.
Network segregation reduces external mixing but does not address internal data-structure trust violations.
Information access restriction limits who sees data but does not prevent mixing trusted and untrusted data within structures.