Security Resilience

CVE-2024-20438

Access Control in Cisco Nexus Dashboard ≤ 3.2\(1e\)

Published
02 October 2024
Modified
08 October 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0036 28th percentile
Risk Priority 48 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-2024-20438 is a medium-severity Protection Mechanism Failure (CWE-693) vulnerability in Cisco Nexus Dashboard. Its CVSS base score is 6.3 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked at the 28th 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-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) — 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 REST API endpoints of Cisco NDFC could allow an authenticated, low-privileged, remote attacker to read or write files on an affected device. This vulnerability exists because of missing authorization controls on some REST API endpoints. An…

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attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted API requests to an affected endpoint. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to perform limited network-admin functions such as reading device configuration information, uploading files, and modifying uploaded files. Note: This vulnerability only affects a subset of REST API endpoints and does not affect the web-based management interface.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-20477Same product: Cisco Nexus Dashboard
CVE-2024-20442Same product: Cisco Nexus Dashboard
CVE-2023-20064Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20302Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20355Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20362Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20301Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20125Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2023-20252Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2017-6622Same vendor: Cisco

Affected Assets

cisco
nexus dashboard
≤ 3.2\(1e\)
cisco
nexus dashboard fabric controller
12.0.0 — 12.2.2

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 directly requires enforcement of access authorizations via the protection mechanism itself.

AC-4 mandates use of information flow enforcement mechanisms to control data movement.

SC-2 requires separation of user and system functionality as a protection mechanism.

SC-28 requires protection mechanisms for information at rest.

SC-3 requires isolation of security functions from non-security functions.

SC-7 requires boundary protection mechanisms to monitor and control external communications.

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.

blocks

Requiring formal authorization of every access request before rights are granted ensures that checks for required permissions are performed, preventing missing authorization checks from being introduced.

blocks

A.5.18's provisioning, review, revocation and activation steps (incl. owner approval, SoD, timely removal on role/termination change) directly stop exploitation of missing authorization checks by ensuring no actor receives or retains rights to resources they should not access; the bounded remainder is that it cannot stop missing-authorization defects inside the enforcement mechanism itself once rights have been granted (e.g. flawed code that ignores the rights table).

finds

By requiring competent outsiders to verify that every function enforces the need-to-know principle, the control lowers the likelihood that missing authorization checks persist undetected.

finds

Systematic verification that security mechanisms operate according to defined standards reduces the likelihood that protection mechanisms are bypassed or disabled.

blocks

A.5.8 integrates risk assessment, requirements elicitation and governance into the project lifecycle so that authorization needs can be identified and specified; it does not itself perform or enforce authorization checks, so the missing-authorization weakness can still be present and exploitable.

blocks

Security checkpoints and explicit authorization requirements in the design phase ensure that every sensitive function is paired with an access-control check, reducing missing-authorization defects.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-693, a pillar-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-654, CWE-757.
  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-862, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.

References