CVE-2024-20399: Cisco NX-OS Command Injection Vulnerability

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

Name

Cisco NX-OS Command Injection Vulnerability

Vendor

Cisco

Product

NX-OS

Added to the catalog

2024-07-02

Due date for US federal agencies

2024-07-23

Weaknesses

CWE-78

Catalog version

2026.10.30

Cisco NX-OS contains a command injection vulnerability in the command line interface (CLI) that could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device.

Required action (CISA)

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Ransomware use: CISA does not mark known use of this vulnerability in ransomware campaigns.

Links in CISA's notes

• https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-nxos-cmd-injection-xD9OhyOP
• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-20399

Read on 2026-11-02T23:39:54.475Z under licence cisa-kev-cc0@b0067899 from https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json

NVD analysis

Status

Analyzed

Published

2024-07-01T17:15:04.383

Last modified

2026-06-17T07:06:56.067

Weaknesses

CWE-78

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated user in possession of Administrator credentials to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device.

This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments that are passed to specific configuration CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including crafted input as the argument of an affected configuration CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with the privileges of root.
Note: To successfully exploit this vulnerability on a Cisco NX-OS device, an attacker must have Administrator credentials. The following Cisco devices already allow administrative users to access the underlying operating system through the bash-shell feature, so, for these devices, this vulnerability does not grant any additional privileges:

Nexus 3000 Series Switches
Nexus 7000 Series Switches that are running Cisco NX-OS Software releases 8.1(1) and later
Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode

References

• https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-nxos-cmd-injection-xD9OhyOP (Vendor Advisory)
• https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-nxos-cmd-injection-xD9OhyOP (Vendor Advisory)
• https://www.sygnia.co/threat-reports-and-advisories/china-nexus-threat-group-velvet-ant-exploits-cisco-0-day/ (Third Party Advisory)
• https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2024-20399 (US Government Resource)

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

Read on 2026-11-02T23:42:15.686Z under licence nvd-api-terms-of-use@ff2a5288 from https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?cveId=CVE-2024-20399

CVE record

Title (CNA)

Cisco NX-OS Software CLI Command Injection Vulnerability

Assigner

cisco

State

PUBLISHED

Published

2024-07-01T16:11:44.028Z

Updated

2025-10-21T18:43:58.429Z

Problem types

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated user in possession of Administrator credentials to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device.

This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments that are passed to specific configuration CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including crafted input as the argument of an affected configuration CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with the privileges of root.
Note: To successfully exploit this vulnerability on a Cisco NX-OS device, an attacker must have Administrator credentials. The following Cisco devices already allow administrative users to access the underlying operating system through the bash-shell feature, so, for these devices, this vulnerability does not grant any additional privileges:

Nexus 3000 Series Switches
Nexus 7000 Series Switches that are running Cisco NX-OS Software releases 8.1(1) and later
Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode

References

• cisco-sa-nxos-cmd-injection-xD9OhyOP

Read on 2026-11-03T02:05:40.882Z under licence cve-terms-of-use@81bfa2f3 from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/main/cves/2024/20xxx/CVE-2024-20399.json

Defensive techniques (MITRE D3FEND)

D3FEND maps these defensive techniques to the weakness (CWE) that NVD lists for this CVE, through the digital artifacts the weakness affects. D3FEND does not say they stop this vulnerability.

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