CVE-2024-20401: cisco cisco secure email Absolute Path Traversal

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2024-20401 is a critical (CVSS 9.8) Absolute Path Traversal vulnerability in cisco cisco secure email. EPSS estimates a 2.26% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 82.7% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 17-07-2024
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 01-08-2024
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

A vulnerability in the content scanning and message filtering features of Cisco Secure Email Gateway could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to overwrite arbitrary files on the underlying operating system. This vulnerability is due to improper handling of email attachments when file analysis and content filters are enabled. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending an email that contains a crafted attachment through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to replace any file on the underlying file system. The attacker could then perform any of the following actions: add users with root privileges, modify the device configuration, execute arbitrary code, or cause a permanent denial of service (DoS) condition on the affected device. Note: Manual intervention is required to recover from the DoS condition. Customers are advised to contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to help recover a device in this condition.

• CWE-36Absolute Path TraversalThe product uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize absolute path sequences such as "/abs/path" that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory.