Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-20498

Memory Safety in Cisco Meraki Mx65 Firmware 17.6.0 – 18.211.2

Published
02 October 2024
Modified
04 June 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0050 41th percentile
Risk Priority 62 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-20498 is a high-severity Double Free (CWE-415) vulnerability in Cisco Meraki Mx65 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 41th 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Multiple vulnerabilities in the Cisco AnyConnect VPN server of Cisco Meraki MX and Cisco Meraki Z Series Teleworker Gateway devices could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a DoS condition in the AnyConnect service on an affected device. These…

more

vulnerabilities are due to insufficient validation of client-supplied parameters while establishing an SSL VPN session. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending a crafted HTTPS request to the VPN server of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the Cisco AnyConnect VPN server to restart, resulting in the failure of the established SSL VPN connections and forcing remote users to initiate a new VPN connection and reauthenticate. A sustained attack could prevent new SSL VPN connections from being established. Note: When the attack traffic stops, the Cisco AnyConnect VPN server recovers gracefully without requiring manual intervention.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-20501Same product: Cisco Meraki Mx100
CVE-2024-20499Same product: Cisco Meraki Mx100
CVE-2024-20509Same product: Cisco Meraki Mx100
CVE-2024-20513Same product: Cisco Meraki Mx100
CVE-2024-20500Same product: Cisco Meraki Mx100
CVE-2024-20502Same product: Cisco Meraki Mx100
CVE-2018-0101Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20151Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2022-20699Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2026-20187Same vendor: Cisco

Affected Assets

cisco
meraki mx65 firmware
17.6.0 — 18.211.2
cisco
meraki mx64 firmware
17.6.0 — 18.211.2
cisco
meraki z4c firmware
16.2 — 18.211.2
cisco
meraki z4 firmware
16.2 — 18.211.2
cisco
meraki z3c firmware
16.2 — 18.211.2
cisco
meraki z3 firmware
16.2 — 18.211.2
cisco
meraki vmx firmware
16.2 — 18.211.2
cisco
meraki mx600 firmware
16.2 — 18.211.2
cisco
meraki mx450 firmware
16.2 — 18.211.2
cisco
meraki mx400 firmware
16.2 — 18.211.2
+15 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)
  • 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation explicitly includes dynamic analysis and fuzzing that locate double-free defects before release.

Security engineering principles can require memory-safe allocation patterns or language features that structurally eliminate double-free opportunities.

Flaw remediation processes require identification and correction of memory-management defects such as double free once discovered.

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 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent double-free errors via static analysis, safe memory APIs, and testing.

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.

finds

Security testing in development can detect double-free conditions before release.

prevents

Secure development life cycle includes memory-safety practices that can prevent double-free bugs.

prevents

Application security requirements can mandate memory-safety rules that reduce double-free risk.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles can prescribe safe memory-management patterns.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly address proper use of free() and similar functions.

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` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248590 OL 8 must clear the page allocator to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-415

References