CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2024-20401

CRITICALEPSS 81th pctl
9.8
CVSS v3
NVD

Description

A vulnerability in the content scanning and message filtering features of Cisco Secure Email Gateway could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to overwrite arbitrary files on the underlying operating system. This vulnerability is due to improper handling of email attachments when file analysis and content filters are enabled. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending an email that contains a crafted attachment through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to replace any file on the underlying file system. The attacker could then perform any of the following actions: add users with root privileges, modify the device configuration, execute arbitrary code, or cause a permanent denial of service (DoS) condition on the affected device. Note: Manual intervention is required to recover from the DoS condition. Customers are advised to contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to help recover a device in this condition.

How to fix

Remediation Available
secure email gatewayNVD
Affected:< 15.5.1-055Fixed in:15.5.1-055CVE-2024-20401derived from NVD

TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works

Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.

CVSS v3 Vector

Exploitability

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged

Impact

ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploit Intelligence

2.28%probability of exploitation in 30 days
81stpercentile

Elevated risk: more likely to be exploited than 81% of all known CVEs.

References

Vendor Advisory1

Related Vulnerabilities

Other CWE-36 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all

CVESeverityCVSSEPSSExploitedFix
CVE-2024-13159Critical9.8100%KEVFix
CVE-2018-20250High7.896%KEV + Ransom-
CVE-2024-48248High8.694%KEVFix
CVE-2024-13160Critical9.891%KEVFix
CVE-2024-13161Critical9.890%KEVFix
CVE-2023-3765Critical10.068%-Fix

Common questions

How do I fix CVE-2024-20401?

Upgrade secure email gateway to 15.5.1-055 or later.

Is CVE-2024-20401 being actively exploited?

Not that we know of. CVE-2024-20401 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 2.3% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 81% of all scored CVEs.

How severe is CVE-2024-20401?

CVE-2024-20401 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8, rated critical. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.

What does CVE-2024-20401 affect?

Published advisories record a fix for secure email gateway (NVD). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.

Embed a live status badge for CVE-2024-20401
CVE-2024-20401 severity badge

Markdown

[![CVE-2024-20401](https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2024-20401.svg)](https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2024-20401)

HTML

<a href="https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2024-20401"><img src="https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2024-20401.svg" alt="CVE-2024-20401"></a>

Find and fix vulnerabilities across your fleet

TridentStack Control continuously scans your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet for known vulnerabilities, prioritizes them by severity and active exploitation, and patches them automatically.

See how it worksStart freeThis CVE lookup is free and always will be.

This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-07-31.