CVE-2023-20273
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Description
A vulnerability in the web UI feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to inject commands with the privileges of root. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted input to the web UI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to inject commands to the underlying operating system with root privileges.
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 High 7.2
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/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: High
An account with significant privileges, such as an administrator, is needed.
User interaction: None
No action from any user is needed.
Scope: Unchanged
The impact stays within the vulnerable component.
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.
| Metric | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | High | An account with significant privileges, such as an administrator, is needed. |
| User interaction | None | No action from any user is needed. |
| Scope | Unchanged | The impact stays within the vulnerable component. |
| 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
- Score
- 0.92938 (92.9% probability)
- Percentile
- 99.8%
- Scores of
- Nov 10, 2026
- Model
- v2026.06.15
CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
- Name in the catalog
- Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection Vulnerability
- Added to the catalog
- Oct 23, 2023
- Federal due date
- Oct 27, 2023
CISA assessment as of Nov 15, 2023
- Exploitation
- Recorded by CISA as active
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- total
Weakness (CWE)
- CWE-78Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command
Affected products
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
- cisco-sa-iosxe-webui-privesc-j22SaA4z (sec.cloudapps.cisco.com)
Timeline
- ID reserved
- Added to CISA KEV
- Record published
- Record last updated
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About CubePath
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, 19:53 UTC. Sources and licenses