Security Resilience

CVE-2024-20278

Cisco Ios Xe 17.10.1 … 17.9.4a

Published
27 March 2024
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0055 44th percentile
Risk Priority 49 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2024-20278 is a medium-severity Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs (CWE-184) vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Security Account Manager (T1003.002); ranked at the 44th 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability in the NETCONF feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to elevate privileges to root on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit…

more

this vulnerability by sending crafted input over NETCONF to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges from Administrator to root.

CWE(s)
CWE-184

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.
attack.mitre.org →
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
attack.mitre.org →
T1016.001 Internet Connection Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may check for Internet connectivity on compromised systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1021.001 Remote Desktop Protocol Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
T1021.003 Distributed Component Object Model Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
T1021.004 SSH Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-20004Same product: Cisco Ios Xe
CVE-2024-20434Same product: Cisco Ios Xe
CVE-2025-20214Same product: Cisco Ios Xe
CVE-2024-20309Same product: Cisco Ios Xe
CVE-2025-20192Same product: Cisco Ios Xe
CVE-2024-20480Same product: Cisco Ios Xe
CVE-2024-20314Same product: Cisco Ios Xe
CVE-2024-20436Same product: Cisco Ios Xe
CVE-2024-20306Same product: Cisco Ios Xe
CVE-2025-20312Same product: Cisco Ios Xe

Affected Assets

cisco
ios xe
17.10.1, 17.10.1a, 17.10.1b, 17.11.1, 17.11.1a

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V3.5.2
  • V4.4.2
  • V16.2.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

SI-10 requires validity checks on inputs, which structurally replaces incomplete deny-lists with complete allow-list or sanitization logic.

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.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly require complete, positive input validation instead of incomplete denylists.

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.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References