CVE-2020-3602 | Cisco StarOS Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco StarOS operating system for Cisco ASR 5000 Series Routers could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted commands to the CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the root user on the affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to have valid credentials on an affected device and know the password for the cli test-commands command.

Published: 2020-10-08 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-3602 is rated Low Risk (35.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.37%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2020-3602

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 0.12% 0.37% +0.25%
2 2025-03-30 0.22% 0.12% -0.10%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.22% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-3602

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 0.8 5.5 [email protected]
6.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 0.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-3602

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-3602

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco staros < 21.19.n4 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:staros:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-3602

cvelogic Threat Intelligence