A vulnerability in the ROM Monitor (ROMMON) of Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst IE3200, IE3300, and IE3400 Rugged Series Switches, Cisco Catalyst IE3400 Heavy Duty Series Switches, and Cisco Embedded Services 3300 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, physical attacker to execute unsigned code at system boot time. This vulnerability is due to incorrect validations of specific function arguments passed to a boot script when specific ROMMON variables are set. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by setting malicious values for a specific ROMMON variable. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute unsigned code and bypass the image verification check during the secure boot process of an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need to have unauthenticated, physical access to the device or obtain privileged access to the root shell on the device.
This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.8, with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 6 products from cisco, from cisco, from cisco and 3 others, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2021, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2021-03-24T20:15:15.540
2024-11-21T05:44:23.770
Modified
CVSSv3.1: 6.8 (MEDIUM)
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
3.9
10.0
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating System | cisco | ios_xe_rom_monitor | ≤ 7.0 | Yes |
| Hardware | cisco | catalyst_ie3200_rugged_switch | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | catalyst_ie3300_rugged_switch | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | catalyst_ie3400_heavy_duty_switch | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | catalyst_ie3400_rugged_switch | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | ess_3300 | - | No |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For cisco's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.