Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2023-20198 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLIC |
| Assigner | [email protected] |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2023-10-16 16:15:00 UTC |
| Updated | 2024-01-25 17:15:00 UTC |
| 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. |
Risk And Classification
EPSS: 0.940130000 probability, percentile 0.998940000 (date 2026-04-03)
CISA KEV: Listed on 2023-10-16; due 2023-10-20; ransomware use Unknown
Problem Types: NVD-CWE-noinfo
CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability
| Vendor | Cisco |
|---|---|
| Product | IOS XE Web UI |
| Name | Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability |
| Required Action | 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. |
| Notes | https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/ios-nx-os-software/ios-xe-dublin-17121/221128-software-fix-availability-for-cisco-ios.html; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20198 |
NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guidance for Addressing Cisco IOS XE Web UI Vulnerabilities | CISA | MISC | www.cisa.gov | |
| Actively exploited Cisco 0-day with maximum 10 severity gives full network control | Ars Technica | MISC | arstechnica.com | |
| Critical, Unpatched Cisco Zero-Day Bug Is Under Active Exploit | MISC | www.darkreading.com | |
| packetstormsecurity.com/files/175674/Cisco-IOX-XE-Unauthenticated-Remote-Code-Executi... | packetstormsecurity.com | ||
| Multiple Vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS XE Software Web UI Feature | MISC | sec.cloudapps.cisco.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
| CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog | CISA | www.cisa.gov | kev |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
Legacy QID Mappings
- 150739 Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (CVE-2023-20198)
- 317376 Cisco Internetwork Operating System (IOS) XE Software Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (cisco-sa-iosxe-webui-privesc-j22SaA4z)
- 730965 Cisco Internetwork Operating System (IOS) XE Software Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (cisco-sa-iosxe-webui-privesc-j22SaA4z) (Unauthenticated Check)