Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2024-20350 is a high-severity Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key (CWE-321) vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst Center. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Private Keys (T1552.004); ranked at the 33th 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 SC-12 (Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-18065
Vulnerability Data
A vulnerability in the SSH server of Cisco Catalyst Center, formerly Cisco DNA Center, could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to impersonate a Cisco Catalyst Center appliance. This vulnerability is due to the presence of a static SSH host key.…
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An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by performing a machine-in-the-middle attack on SSH connections, which could allow the attacker to intercept traffic between SSH clients and a Cisco Catalyst Center appliance. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to impersonate the affected appliance, inject commands into the terminal session, and steal valid user credentials.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requiring cryptographic keys to be established and managed according to defined requirements prevents developers from embedding static unchangeable keys.
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-SDLC activities such as code review and secret scanning directly prevent embedding static keys.
Data-at-rest protection policies require proper key management and therefore discourage hard-coded keys.
Data-in-transit protection similarly depends on non-hard-coded keys for encryption.
Configuration baselines and reviews can prohibit hard-coded keys in deployed artifacts.
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.
Key-management controls that govern generation, rotation and protection of keys make the use of embedded hard-coded cryptographic keys less likely and easier to detect.