Known exploited vulnerability
CVE-2024-20439
The short answer
CVE-2024-20439 affects Cisco Cisco Smart License Utility and is rated critical (CVSS 9.8). CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2025-03-31: attackers are using it, so patch it first.
What it is
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.
Severity
9.8 critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploited (CISA KEV)
Yes, since Mar 31, 2025
Federal due date Apr 21, 2025
EPSS, next 30 days
97%
Higher than 100% of scored CVEs
How it can be exploited
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- High
What CISA says to do
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Affected products
Cisco Smart License Utility, cisco_smart_license_utility. NVD's record lists the exact affected versions.
References
Questions
Is CVE-2024-20439 being exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2024-20439 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2025-03-31, with a federal remediation due date of 2025-04-21.
How do I fix CVE-2024-20439?
CISA's required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
From NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS and OSV.dev, checked . Status on NVD: Analyzed. The description is NVD's text, quoted as published.
Related
Latest CVEs this week
Critical and High CVEs from the last 7 days, with KEV and EPSS.
Exploited vulnerabilities by vendor
Every vendor in CISA's KEV catalog, with its count.
Cisco exploited vulnerabilities
Everything CISA lists as exploited for Cisco.
Vulnerability watch
A briefing and a fix pull request when an advisory hits your dependencies.
Know the day a CVE lands in your code
Connect a GitHub repository and ZeusQA checks its dependencies daily, briefs each advisory and opens the fix. Three test runs free, no card.