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CVE-2023-20198

Unprotected Alternate Channel

CVSS 3.1 Critical 10.0Known exploited (CISA KEV)

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

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.

Official description from the CVE record, published by cisco. Copyright © 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. See /security/cve/legal for the CVE license. View the record on cve.org

Key data

CVSS 3.1 Critical 10.0

Score published by cisco in the CVE record.

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

  • Attack vector: Network

    The vulnerable component can be reached over a network, possibly from the Internet.

  • Attack complexity: Low

    No special conditions are needed. The attack can be repeated at will.

  • Privileges required: None

    No account or privileges are needed.

  • User interaction: None

    No action from any user is needed.

  • Scope: Changed

    The impact can reach other components beyond the vulnerable one.

  • Confidentiality impact: High

    Serious or total effect on the secrecy of data.

  • Integrity impact: High

    Serious or total effect on the trustworthiness of data.

  • Availability impact: High

    Serious or total effect on availability.

CVSS is owned and managed by FIRST.Org, Inc. (FIRST) and is used by permission. Each CVSS score on this site is shown together with its vector string, as published in the CVE record by the source named next to it. Learn more at first.org/cvss.

EPSS

Exploit Prediction Scoring System by FIRST: an estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days.
Score
0.99781 (99.8% probability)
Percentile
99.95%
Scores of
Nov 10, 2026
Model
v2026.06.15

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

This CVE is listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Name in the catalog
Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Added to the catalog
Oct 16, 2023
Federal due date
Oct 20, 2023

CISA assessment as of Oct 23, 2024

Stakeholder-Specific Vulnerability Categorization (SSVC) decision points added by CISA.
Exploitation
Recorded by CISA as active
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total

Weakness (CWE)

CWE catalog version 5.0.
CWE names: Copyright © 2006-2026, The MITRE Corporation. See /security/cve/legal for the CWE license.
  • CWE-420Unprotected Alternate Channel

Affected products

Products listed in the CVE record, as the CNA published them.

  • Cisco IOS XE Software

    • affected: 16.1.1
    • affected: 16.1.2
    • affected: 16.1.3
    • affected: 16.2.1
    • affected: 16.2.2
    • affected: 16.3.1
    • affected: 16.3.2
    • affected: 16.3.3
    • affected: 16.3.1a
    • affected: 16.3.4
    • affected: 16.3.5
    • affected: 16.3.5b
    • affected: 16.3.6
    • affected: 16.3.7
    • affected: 16.3.8
    • affected: 16.3.9
    • affected: 16.3.10
    • affected: 16.3.11
    • affected: 16.4.1
    • affected: 16.4.2
    • affected: 16.4.3
    • affected: 16.5.1
    • affected: 16.5.1a
    • affected: 16.5.1b
    • affected: 16.5.2
    • and 161 more

References

Links listed in the CVE record. They lead to other sites, which CubePath does not control.

Timeline

  1. ID reserved
  2. Added to CISA KEV
  3. Record published
  4. Record last updated

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About CubePath

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Data from the CVE Program (MITRE), CISA KEV and FIRST EPSS. CVSS is owned by FIRST and used by permission. Not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE, CISA or FIRST. Data as of Nov 10, 2026, 19:24 UTC. Sources and licenses