Hazard

Is CVE-2020-3161 being exploited?

Weaponised and widely attempted

Reliable public exploit code exists, or mass exploitation attempts are probable. Patch inside days, not weeks.

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

Cisco · Cisco IP Phones

CVSS 9.8 EPSS 84% 1 public exploit Fix deadline passed 3 May 2022

What it is

Cisco IP Phones contain an improper input validation vulnerability for HTTP requests. Exploitation could allow an attacker to execute code remotely with root privileges or cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition.

Why we say that

  • EPSS puts exploitation in the next 30 days at 84%
  • 1 public exploit published
  • CISA's federal remediation deadline (2022-05-03) has passed
  • CVSS 9.8 critical
  • Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue

Every line above comes from a named public source. Where the evidence is thin, we say so rather than inventing confidence — see methodology.

What to do

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public exploit code

Indexed from Exploit-DB. Presence of code raises urgency; absence does not mean safety.

What it costs when this goes wrong

This is where UK enforcement meets the vulnerability record. Where an unfixed vulnerability leads to a breach, the ICO treats it as a security failure under UK GDPR. Recent cases:

All UK cases caused by unpatched software →