Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This CVE affects Cisco Small Business RV016, RV042, RV082, RV320, and RV325 routers. An attacker who already has administrative access to the web management interface could run commands as root on the device, potentially taking full control of the router.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority for any still-deployed affected routers. The attacker needs admin access, but successful exploitation means root control of an infrastructure device that can affect traffic, availability, and downstream security monitoring.
Technical view
The flaw is command injection in web-management scripts caused by insufficient validation of user-supplied input. Cisco describes authenticated remote exploitation requiring administrative privileges. Successful exploitation gives root-level command execution on the underlying operating system. CVSS v3.0 is 7.2 with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where the listed Cisco Small Business RV routers are still deployed and their web-based management interface is reachable by administrative users over the network. Risk increases if admin credentials are weak, shared, or exposed.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV in the bundle. Exploitation requires authenticated administrative access, but the result is full root command execution on a network device.
Researcher notes
The main constraint is privilege: this is not described as pre-authentication. Research and validation should focus on exposure of the management plane, administrative credential hygiene, firmware status, and signs of device-level compromise. The bundle does not provide patch specifics beyond the Cisco advisory reference.
Mitigation direction
- Identify any deployed RV016, RV042, RV082, RV320, or RV325 routers.
- Check Cisco’s advisory for fixed firmware, workarounds, or replacement guidance.
- Restrict web management access to trusted administrative networks only.
- Review and reduce administrative accounts on affected devices.
- Rotate administrative credentials if exposure or compromise is suspected.
Validation and detection
- Inventory router models and firmware versions against Cisco’s advisory.
- Confirm the web management interface is not reachable from untrusted networks.
- Review admin account lists for stale, shared, or unexpected users.
- Check device logs for unexpected administrative access or configuration changes.
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-77: Command execution behavior lookup
Command injection weaknesses can lead defenders to review execution techniques and command interpreter telemetry. 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 lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-3279 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7.2 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.25.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
7.2HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20200617 Cisco Small Business RV Series Routers Command Injection VulnerabilitiesCVE 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.
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection')
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.