A vulnerability in Cisco Smart Licensing Utility (CSLU) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to log into an affected system by using a static administrative credential. This vulnerability is due to an undocumented static user credential for an administrative account. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using the static credentials to login to the affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to login to the affected system with administrative rights over the CSLU application API.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2024-20439 is rated Critical Active Threat (99.8/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 87.15%, 99th percentile). Core evidence: CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2025-03-31) affecting Cisco / Smart Licensing Utility. a weakness (CWE-798) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. Mandatory action: The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
: Cisco Smart Licensing Utility Static Credential Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail
: 2025-03-31
: 2025-04-21
: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
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 | 2026-05-09 | 86.31% | 87.15% | +0.83% |
| 2 | 2026-03-02 | 85.79% | 86.31% | +0.52% |
| 3 | 2026-02-18 | — | 85.79% | — |
Full EPSS history (37 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.8 | 3.1 | CRITICAL |
|
3.9 | 5.9 | [email protected] |
| 9.8 | 3.1 | CRITICAL |
|
3.9 | 5.9 | [email protected] |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| cisco | smart_license_utility | >= 2.0.0, < 2.3.0 | cpe:2.3:a:cisco:smart_license_utility:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-cslu-7gHMzWmw | Vendor Advisory |
| https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2024-20439 | US Government Resource |