What it is
CVE-2020-3161 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Cisco IP phone. A vulnerability in the web server for Cisco IP Phones could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute code with root privileges or...
Vulnerability report
Exploited in the wild
Confirmed confidence
In CISA KEV
CVE-2020-3161
Cisco IP phone Remote Code Execution
Cisco IP phone
- Severity
- CVSS 9.8 · Critical
- Confidence
- Confirmed
- Exploit status
- Exploited in the wild
- EPSS
- 83.9%
- First observed
- —
- Last observed
- —
Decision summary
What security teams need to know first
Direct answers before the deeper technical record.
Is it exploited?
Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed. Listed in CISA KEV.
Who is affected?
Cisco IP phone.
What should we do?
Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.
Overview
Cisco IP phone Remote Code Execution
A vulnerability in the web server for Cisco IP Phones could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute code with root privileges or cause a reload of an affected IP phone, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to a lack of proper input validation of HTTP requests.
An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to the web server of a targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to remotely execute code with root privileges or cause a reload of an affected IP phone, resulting in a DoS condition.
- Published
- 15 Apr 2020
- Exploitation Reported
- 03 Nov 2021
- Attack vector
- Remote
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
Tags
cisa
edge
nessus_scanner
CVE References
- CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-3161
- 20200415 Cisco IP Phones Web Server Remote Code Execution and Denial of Service Vulnerability tools.cisco.com · Vendor Advisory https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory...
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/157265/Cisco-IP-Phone-11.7-Denial-Of-S... packetstormsecurity.com · CVE Record http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157265/Cisco-IP-Phone-11.7-Denia...
Exploitation evidence
Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited
Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.
Exploited in the wild
CISA
A trusted third party reported exploitation.
Known exploited vulnerability sources
Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.
Learn about Pro API access| Source | Added |
|---|---|
| CISA First | 2021-11-03 00:00 UTC |
Detection
Operational artifacts and observed signals
Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.
Observed signals
- Request targets
- User-Agents
- Callback hosts
- 0
- 0
- 0
Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.
Scanner coverage
No scanner integrations recorded yet.
Virtual patch status
No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.
Learn about virtual patches →No detection artifacts or sensor request patterns are available for this CVE yet.
Check back as sensor telemetry and scanner integrations are updated.
Risk and context
Severity, weaknesses, and research context
CVSS v3.0
9.8
Critical
Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
83.9%
Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.
Weaknesses
Timeline
From disclosure to observed exploitation
-
00:00 UTC
Added to CISA KEV
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
-
20:10 UTC
CVE published
Vulnerability disclosed publicly
-
00:00 UTC
CVE ID reserved
Identifier reserved by the CNA
Pro API
Automate this intelligence
Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.
- Evidence confidence and provenance
- First-party sensor telemetry
- PoC and scanner references
- Affected versions and enrichment
- Automation-ready JSON delivery
GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2020-3161
Free JSON includes basic KEV fields{
"cve_id": "CVE-2020-3161",
"confidence": "Confirmed",
"cvss_score": 9.8,
"cvss_estimated": false,
"epss_score": 0.83855,
"exploit_status": {
"exploited_in_the_wild": true,
"active_exploitation_observed": false
},
"sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}