Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw could let someone who already has very high local administrative access on an affected Cisco IOS XE device become root on the underlying operating system. It is not a remote internet attack, but compromise of trusted admin access could become full device control.
Executive priority
Prioritize this for network infrastructure governed by privileged administrators. It is not presented as broadly wormable, but successful abuse could mean full control of affected devices, so remediation should align with network criticality and admin-access exposure.
Technical view
Cisco describes a ROMMON issue in IOS XE where special parameters at initial boot can enable privilege escalation from Priv15 to root, allowing arbitrary commands as root. The provided affected product is Cisco IOS XE Software 3.8.0S. CVSS is 6.7 with local attack vector and high privileges required.
Likely exposure
Likely exposure is limited to organizations running Cisco IOS XE Software 3.8.0S on affected Cisco devices. Practical risk is concentrated around users with Priv15 access, local administrative access, or operational control during device boot.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires authenticated local access with high privileges and a boot-time opportunity, which narrows attacker reach but raises insider, stolen-admin-credential, and maintenance-window risk.
Researcher notes
Key constraints are local attack vector, low attack complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction, unchanged scope, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. CWE is listed as CWE-264. The supplied bundle does not include specific fixed versions or workaround text.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco's advisory for fixed-release or workaround guidance before changing software.
- Restrict Priv15 access to the smallest necessary administrator group.
- Protect console, out-of-band, and boot-management paths with strong access controls.
- Audit privileged administrator accounts and remove stale or shared credentials.
- Monitor device reboots and privileged configuration changes for unexpected activity.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco IOS XE devices and identify any running version 3.8.0S.
- Confirm whether each in-scope device maps to Cisco's advisory guidance.
- Review who has Priv15 or equivalent local administrative access.
- Check operational logs for unexpected reboot or privileged maintenance activity.
- Document remediation status and remaining devices requiring vendor-guided action.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-264: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-3213 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.7 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H0.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
6.7MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20200603 Cisco IOS XE Software Privilege Escalation VulnerabilityCVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_CISCO
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls
Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.