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National Vulnerability Database

National Vulnerability Database

NVD

National Vulnerability Database
  1. Vulnerabilities

CVE-2023-20198 Detail

Description

Cisco is providing an update for the ongoing investigation into observed exploitation of the web UI feature in Cisco IOS XE Software. We are updating the list of fixed releases and adding the Software Checker. Our investigation has determined that the actors exploited two previously unknown issues. The attacker first exploited CVE-2023-20198 to gain initial access and issued a privilege 15 command to create a local user and password combination. This allowed the user to log in with normal user access. The attacker then exploited another component of the web UI feature, leveraging the new local user to elevate privilege to root and write the implant to the file system. Cisco has assigned CVE-2023-20273 to this issue. CVE-2023-20198 has been assigned a CVSS Score of 10.0. CVE-2023-20273 has been assigned a CVSS Score of 7.2. Both of these CVEs are being tracked by CSCwh87343.


Metrics

 
NVD enrichment efforts reference publicly available information to associate vector strings. CVSS information contributed by other sources is also displayed.
CVSS 4.0 Severity and Vector Strings:

NIST CVSS score
NIST: NVD
N/A
NVD assessment not yet provided.

References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

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URL Source(s) Tag(s)
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxe-webui-privesc-j22SaA4z CVE, Cisco Systems, Inc. Mitigation  Vendor Advisory 
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-20198 CISA-ADP US Government Resource 

This CVE is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog

Reference CISA's BOD 22-01 and Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog for further guidance and requirements.

Vulnerability Name Date Added Due Date Required Action
Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability 10/16/2023 10/20/2023 Verify that instances of Cisco IOS XE Web UI are in compliance with BOD 23-02 and apply mitigations per vendor instructions. For affected products (Cisco IOS XE Web UI exposed to the internet or to untrusted networks), follow vendor instructions to determine if a system may have been compromised and immediately report positive findings to CISA.

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-ID CWE Name Source
NVD-CWE-Other Other cwe source acceptance level NIST  
CWE-420 Unprotected Alternate Channel Cisco Systems, Inc.  

Known Affected Software Configurations Switch to CPE 2.2

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Change History

20 change records found show changes

Quick Info

CVE Dictionary Entry:
CVE-2023-20198
NVD Published Date:
10/16/2023
NVD Last Modified:
06/17/2026
Source:
Cisco Systems, Inc.