A vulnerability in the boot process of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with high privileges to bypass the Cisco Secure Boot functionality and load unverified software on an affected device. To exploit this successfully, the attacker must have root-system privileges on the affected device.

This vulnerability is due to an error in the software build process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by manipulating the system’s configuration options to bypass some of the integrity checks that are performed during the booting process. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to control the boot configuration, which could enable them to bypass of the requirement to run Cisco signed images or alter the security properties of the running system.

References

• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-20456
• https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-xr-secure-boot-quD5g8Ap