Vulnerability Database

326,214

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2024-20429

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco AsyncOS for Secure Email Gateway could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary system commands on an affected device.

This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation in certain portions of the web-based management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with root privileges. To successfully exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need at least valid Operator credentials.

  • Published: Jul 17, 2024
  • Updated: Nov 16, 2025
  • CVE: CVE-2024-20429
  • Severity: Medium
  • Exploit:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Medium
  • Score: 6.5
  • AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

CWEs:

Software From Fixed in
cisco / asyncos 11.0.3-238 11.0.3-238.x
cisco / asyncos 11.1.0-069 11.1.0-069.x
cisco / asyncos 11.1.0-128 11.1.0-128.x
cisco / asyncos 11.1.0-131 11.1.0-131.x
cisco / asyncos 12.0.0-419 12.0.0-419.x
cisco / asyncos 12.1.0-071 12.1.0-071.x
cisco / asyncos 12.1.0-087 12.1.0-087.x
cisco / asyncos 12.1.0-089 12.1.0-089.x
cisco / asyncos 12.5.0-066 12.5.0-066.x
cisco / asyncos 12.5.3-041 12.5.3-041.x
cisco / asyncos 12.5.4-041 12.5.4-041.x
cisco / asyncos 13.0.0-392 13.0.0-392.x
cisco / asyncos 13.0.5-007 13.0.5-007.x
cisco / asyncos 13.5.1-277 13.5.1-277.x
cisco / asyncos 13.5.4-038 13.5.4-038.x
cisco / asyncos 14.0.0-698 14.0.0-698.x
cisco / asyncos 14.2.0-620 14.2.0-620.x
cisco / asyncos 14.2.1-020 14.2.1-020.x

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.