Security Resilience

CVE-2024-20378

Auth Bypass in Cisco Ip Phone 6821 With Multiplatform Firmware ≤ 12.0.4

Published
01 May 2024
Modified
05 January 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0081 56th percentile
Risk Priority 59 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-2024-20378 is a high-severity Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness (CWE-305) vulnerability in Cisco Ip Phone 6821 With Multiplatform Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 44% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)) and IA-8 (Identification and Authentication (Non-organizational Users)) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco IP Phone firmware could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to retrieve sensitive information from an affected device. This vulnerability is due to a lack of authentication for specific endpoints of the…

more

web-based management interface on an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain unauthorized access to the device, enabling the recording of user credentials and traffic to and from the affected device, including VoIP calls that could be replayed.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
T1006 Direct Volume Access Stealth
Adversaries may directly access a volume to bypass file access controls and file system monitoring.
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-20154Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20376Same product: Cisco Ip Phone 6821
CVE-2024-20357Same product: Cisco Ip Phone 6821
CVE-2024-20463Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20534Same product: Cisco Ip Phone 6821
CVE-2024-20533Same product: Cisco Ip Phone 6821
CVE-2023-20221Same product: Cisco Ip Phone 6821
CVE-2023-20078Same product: Cisco Ip Phone 6841
CVE-2023-20079Same product: Cisco Ip Phone 6841
CVE-2023-0777Shared CWE-305

Affected Assets

cisco
ip phone 6821 with multiplatform firmware
12.0.4 · ≤ 12.0.4
cisco
ip phone 6841 with multiplatform firmware
12.0.4 · ≤ 12.0.4
cisco
ip phone 6851 with multiplatform firmware
12.0.4 · ≤ 12.0.4
cisco
ip phone 6861 with multiplatform firmware
12.0.4 · ≤ 12.0.4
cisco
ip phone 6871 with multiplatform firmware
12.0.4 · ≤ 12.0.4
cisco
ip phone 7811 with multiplatform firmware
12.0.4 · ≤ 12.0.4
cisco
ip phone 7821 with multiplatform firmware
12.0.4 · ≤ 12.0.4
cisco
ip phone 7841 with multiplatform firmware
12.0.4 · ≤ 12.0.4
cisco
ip phone 7861 with multiplatform firmware
12.0.4 · ≤ 12.0.4
cisco
ip phone 8811 with multiplatform firmware
12.0.4 · ≤ 12.0.4
+5 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Requires unique identification and authentication of users, structurally blocking bypass of the mechanism.

Requires unique identification and authentication of non-organizational users, blocking bypass paths.

Enforces approved authorizations so a bypass weakness cannot be exploited to reach resources.

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.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Identifying and recording vulnerabilities catches the primary weaknesses that allow authentication bypass.

PR.AA-03 partial match
blocks

Strong authentication mechanisms and policy enforcement directly reduce bypass opportunities arising from implementation flaws.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure development practices throughout the SDLC prevent the primary weaknesses that enable authentication bypass.

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.

removes
removes
removes
removes
removes

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Ubuntu 22.04 (1 rule)
  • V-260470 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, when booted, must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. blocks CWE-305
Ubuntu 24.04 (1 rule)
  • V-270675 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS when booted must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. blocks CWE-305

References