Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Cisco Nexus Data Broker had a configuration restore flaw that could let an attacker cause arbitrary file overwrites. The attacker must persuade an administrator to restore a malicious backup file, so the main risk is operational integrity and availability rather than direct data theft.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate operational risk for network management environments. Prioritize if Nexus Data Broker is internet-reachable, broadly administered, or frequently restored from shared backup files.
Technical view
CVE-2020-3597 is a CWE-23 path traversal issue in Cisco Nexus Data Broker configuration restore. Insufficient validation of backup files could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker, with administrator interaction, to overwrite files accessible through the affected software. CVSS v3.1 is 5.4, medium severity.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations running Cisco Nexus Data Broker and using its configuration backup restore feature. The source bundle does not provide affected version ranges, so teams must map deployments against Cisco guidance.
Exploitation context
The bundle reports no CISA KEV listing and provides no cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires social engineering or another path to get an administrator to restore a crafted backup file.
Researcher notes
The notable constraint is required user interaction: an administrator must restore the crafted backup. The source bundle does not include version ranges, fixed versions, workaround text, or exploitation reports, so validation should stay anchored to Cisco’s advisory.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco advisory for affected and fixed release guidance.
- Only restore configuration backups from trusted, verified sources.
- Restrict configuration restore privileges to authorized administrators.
- Pause restoration of externally supplied backups until reviewed.
- Monitor restored systems for unexpected file changes.
Validation and detection
- Inventory all Cisco Nexus Data Broker deployments.
- Confirm deployed versions against Cisco advisory guidance.
- Review recent configuration restore activity for unusual backups.
- Verify backup provenance before any restore operation.
- Check affected systems for unexpected file modifications after restores.
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-23: 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.
Open ATT&CK lookupFile 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 lookupCVE-2020-3597 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
- 5.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
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:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L2.82.5Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20201007 Cisco Nexus Data Broker Software Path Traversal 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.
Relative Path Traversal
Relative Path Traversal represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.