CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2024-20470NVD status: Analyzed

Cisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware: Improper Neutralization of Expression/Command Delimiters

CVE-2024-20470 is a high-severity improper neutralization of expression/command delimiters vulnerability in Cisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware from Cisco, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.2 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with administrator privileges, without any action from a user. Affected Cisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware versions: 1.0.01.17; 1.0.03.17; 1.0.01.16, and others listed below. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.62% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 50% of scored CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Check which version of Cisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. Read the advisory on sec.cloudapps.cisco.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
CiscoCisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware1.0.01.17; 1.0.03.17; 1.0.01.16; 1.0.01.18; 1.0.00.29; 1.0.03.16; 1.0.03.15; 1.0.02.16; and 12 more rangesNot stated
CiscoRv340 Dual Wan Gigabit VPN Router Firmware1.0.00.29; 1.0.00.33; 1.0.01.16; 1.0.01.17; 1.0.01.18; 1.0.01.20; 1.0.02.16; 1.0.03.15; and 12 more rangesNot stated
CiscoRv340w Dual Wan Gigabit Wireless-ac VPN Router Firmware1.0.00.29; 1.0.00.33; 1.0.01.16; 1.0.01.17; 1.0.01.18; 1.0.01.20; 1.0.02.16; 1.0.03.15; and 12 more rangesNot stated
CiscoRv345 Dual Wan Gigabit VPN Router Firmware1.0.00.29; 1.0.00.33; 1.0.01.16; 1.0.01.17; 1.0.01.18; 1.0.01.20; 1.0.02.16; 1.0.03.15; and 12 more rangesNot stated
CiscoRv345p Dual Wan Gigabit Poe VPN Router Firmware1.0.00.29; 1.0.00.33; 1.0.01.16; 1.0.01.17; 1.0.01.18; 1.0.01.20; 1.0.02.16; 1.0.03.15; and 12 more rangesNot stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
HighAdministrator-level access is required first.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

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

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 3.17.2HighNVD
CVSS 3.16.5MediumCISA (ADP)

Official description

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Small Business RV340, RV340W, RV345, and RV345P Dual WAN Gigabit VPN Routers could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on an affected device. In order to exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid admin credentials. This vulnerability exists because the web-based management interface does not sufficiently validate user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP input to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code as the root user on the underlying operating system.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Improper Neutralization of Expression/Command Delimiters

The product receives input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could be interpreted as expression or command delimiters when they are sent to a downstream component.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Developers should anticipate that inter-expression and inter-command delimiters will be injected/removed/manipulated in the input vectors of their product. Use an appropriate combination of denylists and allowlists to ensure only valid, expected and appropriate input is processed by the system.
  • While it is risky to use dynamically-generated query strings, code, or commands that mix control and data together, sometimes it may be unavoidable. Properly quote arguments and escape any special characters within those arguments. The most conservative approach is to escape or filter all characters that do not pass an extremely strict allowlist (such as everything that is not alphanumeric or white space). If some special characters are still needed, such as white space, wrap each argument in quotes after the escaping/filtering step. Be careful of argument injection (CWE-88).
  • Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.

More Improper Neutralization of Expression/Command Delimiters vulnerabilities (CWE-146)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware

All Cisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware vulnerabilities

Recent Improper Neutralization of Expression/Command Delimiters vulnerabilities

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