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CVE Record

CVE-2020-3490: Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Path Traversal Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with administrative privileges to conduct directory traversal attacks and obtain read access to sensitive files on an affected system. The vulnerability exists because the web-based management interface does not properly validate user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request that contains directory traversal character sequences to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read files on the underlying operating system with root privileges. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need to have administrative privileges on the affected system.

MediumCVSS 4.9Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This flaw can let an already-authenticated administrator read sensitive operating-system files from Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director. It is not a remote unauthenticated takeover issue, but the possible file access is privileged and confidentiality-focused.

Executive priority

Treat as a moderate-priority confidentiality risk. It is less urgent than unauthenticated internet-facing flaws, but organizations using this Cisco product should validate exposure and apply Cisco guidance because successful exploitation can read sensitive files as root.

Technical view

CVE-2020-3490 is a CWE-22 path traversal issue in the web-based management interface. Cisco states an authenticated remote attacker with administrative privileges could send crafted HTTP requests and read underlying OS files with root privileges. CVSS 3.1 is 4.9: network, low complexity, high privileges, high confidentiality impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to environments running Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director where the web management interface is reachable by administrative users. The source bundle does not identify specific affected versions or deployment counts.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation requires valid administrative privileges on the affected system, reducing likelihood but raising concern for insider misuse or compromised admin accounts.

Researcher notes

Evidence supports path traversal with high confidentiality impact and no integrity or availability impact. Affected version and fix details are not present in the provided bundle, so remediation should be tied directly to Cisco’s advisory rather than inferred.

Mitigation direction

  • Review the Cisco advisory for fixed versions or official workarounds.
  • Restrict access to the web management interface to trusted administrative networks.
  • Review and reduce administrative accounts with access to the product.
  • Monitor administrative web activity for suspicious file access behavior.
  • Prioritize remediation where the interface is reachable from broad networks.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director deployments.
  • Confirm affected status against Cisco’s advisory and local version data.
  • Verify management interface exposure and administrative access paths.
  • Audit administrator accounts for necessity and recent suspicious activity.
  • Review web logs for path traversal indicators without reproducing exploit behavior.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
3

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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 · medium confidence lookup

CWE-22: File access and web shell behavior lookup

File traversal and upload weaknesses can lead teams to review file, web shell, execution, and collection 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.

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description · low confidence lookup

File access behavior lookup

The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2020-3490 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
4.9 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Official CVE source material

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.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
2Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We 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.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
4.9CVSS 3.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N1.23.6Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

4.9Medium
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2020-3490Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
CiscoCisco Vision Dynamic Signage Directorn/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-22 · source CWE mapping

Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.