CVE-2020-3596 | Cisco Expressway Series and TelePresence Video Communication Server Denial of Service Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) of Cisco Expressway Series and Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to incorrect handling of incoming SIP traffic. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a series of SIP packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust memory on an affected device, causing it to crash and leading to a DoS condition.

Published: 2020-10-08 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-3596 is rated Moderate Risk (47.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.21%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-3596

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 2026-06-15 0.23% 1.21% +0.99%
2 2026-05-13 0.60% 0.23% -0.37%
3 2025-03-30 0.60%

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-3596

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.9 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.2 3.6 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]
7.8 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
10.0 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-3596

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-3596

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco expressway <= x12.6.3 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:expressway:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco telepresence_video_communication_server <= x12.6.3 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:telepresence_video_communication_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-3596

cvelogic Threat Intelligence