A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol implementation for Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a reload on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the Cisco Discovery Protocol parser does not properly validate input for certain fields in a Cisco Discovery Protocol message. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to an affected device. An successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a stack overflow, which could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code with administrative privileges on an affected device. Cisco Discovery Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent).
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-3119 is rated Moderate Risk (62.3/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 7.91%, 92th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).
| # | Date | Old EPSS score | New EPSS score | Delta (New - Old) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025-11-21 | 12.99% | 7.91% | -5.07% |
| 2 | 2025-11-18 | 7.87% | 12.99% | +5.12% |
| 3 | 2025-03-30 | — | 7.87% | — |
Full EPSS history (12 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.8 | 3.1 | HIGH |
|
2.8 | 5.9 | [email protected] |
| 8.8 | 3.0 | HIGH |
|
2.8 | 5.9 | [email protected] |
| 8.3 | 2.0 | HIGH |
|
6.5 | 10.0 | [email protected] |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| cisco | nx-os | >= 7.0\(3\)f2, < 9.3\(2\) | cpe:2.3:o:cisco:nx-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| cisco | nx-os | >= 7.0\(3\)i, < 7.0\(3\)i7\(8\) | cpe:2.3:o:cisco:nx-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| cisco | nx-os | >= 7.1, < 7.3\(6\)n1\(1\) | cpe:2.3:o:cisco:nx-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| cisco | nx-os | < 9.3\(2\) | cpe:2.3:o:cisco:nx-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| cisco | nx-os | >= 14.0, < 14.2\(1j\) | cpe:2.3:o:cisco:nx-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| cisco | ucs_manager | < 3.2\(3m\) | cpe:2.3:a:cisco:ucs_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| cisco | ucs_manager | >= 4.0, < 4.0\(4f\) | cpe:2.3:a:cisco:ucs_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156203/Cisco-Discovery-Protocol-CDP-Remote-Device-Takeover.html | Third Party Advisory VDB Entry |
| https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20200205-nxos-cdp-rce | Vendor Advisory |