CVE-2020-3161

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 9.8 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Exploited in the wild
9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 84%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · epss top5pct · epss high · public exploitExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

A vulnerability in the web server for Cisco IP Phones could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute code with root privileges or cause a reload of an affected IP phone, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to a lack of proper input validation of HTTP requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to the web server of a targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to remotely execute code with root privileges or cause a reload of an affected IP phone, resulting in a DoS condition.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8CRITICALhigh confidence
EG Risk
99
EG Risk 99/100CISA SSVC

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
CISA SSVC: Attend at low mission impact; Act at medium or high.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it sooner than your standard update timelines at low mission impact and as soon as possible at medium or high.
EPSS PROB
84%
EPSS %ILE
99th
KEV
⚠ Exploited

CISA SSVCAttend at low mission impact; Act at medium or high.

A fix is available. Apply it sooner than your standard update timelines at low mission impact and as soon as possible at medium or high.

Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it: high means the affected system is essential to your organisation's mission, or its compromise could cause irreversible harm to people. CISA's decision table

Published

April 15, 2020

Last Modified

October 28, 2025

Advisory Details (3)

Auto-updated Oct 1, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. Patch available. Sources: cisa.
cisa Patch Available🔴 Active Exploitation

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA. Listed in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-3161
generic🟡 PoC Available

Cisco IP Phones Web Server Remote Code Execution and Denial of Service Vulnerability

https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-voip-phones-rce-dos-rB6EeRXs
generic

Packet Storm - Human Validation

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157265/Cisco-IP-Phone-11.7-Denial-Of-Service.html

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 40× in last 7d / 206× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 860 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-10-05 23:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-10-05 19:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-10-05 14:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-10-05 10:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-10-05 06:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-10-05 01:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-10-04 21:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-10-04 17:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-10-04 13:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-10-04 08:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-10-04 04:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-10-04 00:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-10-03 19:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-10-03 15:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-10-03 11:04 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-10-03 06:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-10-03 02:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-10-02 22:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-10-02 17:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-10-02 13:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-10-02 09:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-10-02 04:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-10-02 00:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-10-01 20:16 UTCEG score recompute
  25. 2026-10-01 20:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-10-01 15:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-10-01 11:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-10-01 07:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-10-01 03:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-09-30 22:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-09-30 18:24 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-09-30 14:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-09-30 09:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-09-30 05:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-09-30 01:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-09-29 20:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-09-29 16:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-09-29 12:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-09-29 07:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-09-29 03:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-09-28 23:14 UTCEG score recompute
  17. 2026-09-28 23:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-09-28 18:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-09-28 14:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-09-28 10:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-09-28 06:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-09-28 01:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-09-27 21:51 UTCCISA KEV update
  24. 2026-09-27 21:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-09-27 17:04 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-09-27 12:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  27. 2026-09-27 08:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-09-27 04:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
  29. 2026-09-26 23:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  30. 2026-09-26 19:33 UTCEG score recompute
  31. 2026-09-26 19:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  32. 2026-09-26 15:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-09-26 15:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-09-26 15:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  35. 2026-09-26 10:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  36. 2026-09-26 06:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-09-26 02:15 UTCEG score recompute
  38. 2026-09-26 02:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  39. 2026-09-25 21:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  40. 2026-09-25 19:35 UTCCISA KEV update
  41. 2026-09-25 17:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  42. 2026-09-25 14:55 UTCCISA KEV update
  43. 2026-09-25 13:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  44. 2026-09-25 08:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  45. 2026-09-25 04:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-09-25 00:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  47. 2026-09-24 20:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-09-24 19:31 UTCCISA KEV update
  49. 2026-09-24 15:42 UTCEG score recompute
  50. 2026-09-24 15:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-09-24 14:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  52. 2026-09-24 11:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-09-24 07:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  54. 2026-09-24 02:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  55. 2026-09-23 22:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  56. 2026-09-23 18:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-09-23 13:52 UTCEG score recompute
  58. 2026-09-23 13:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  59. 2026-09-23 09:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  60. 2026-09-23 05:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  61. 2026-09-23 00:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  62. 2026-09-22 20:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  63. 2026-09-22 19:36 UTCCISA KEV update
  64. 2026-09-22 16:21 UTCEG score recompute
  65. 2026-09-22 16:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-09-22 14:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-09-22 12:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  68. 2026-09-22 07:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  69. 2026-09-22 03:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  70. 2026-09-21 23:08 UTCEG score recompute
  71. 2026-09-21 23:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  72. 2026-09-21 20:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  73. 2026-09-21 19:09 UTCCISA KEV update
  74. 2026-09-21 18:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  75. 2026-09-21 14:31 UTCGHSA enrichment

Publicly available exploits

(1 reference)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-48342
    First seen Apr 17, 2020

    Cisco IP Phone 11.7 - Denial of service (PoC)

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2020-3161?
CVE-2020-3161 is a critical vulnerability published on April 15, 2020. A vulnerability in the web server for Cisco IP Phones could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute code with root privileges or cause a reload of an affected IP phone, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to a lack of proper input validation of…
When was CVE-2020-3161 disclosed?
CVE-2020-3161 was first published on April 15, 2020, with the most recent update on October 28, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2020-3161 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2020-3161 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on November 3, 2021, affecting Cisco Cisco IP Phones. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate attention. A fix is available. Apply it.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-3161?
CVE-2020-3161 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
Which products are affected by CVE-2020-3161?
CVE-2020-3161 affects Cisco Cisco IP Phones.
How do I remediate CVE-2020-3161?
A fix for CVE-2020-3161 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory.

Dependency Blast Radius

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