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Fencer Vulns
high 7.2

CVE-2023-20273 kev in the critical feed json

A vulnerability in the web UI feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to inject commands with the pr…

published 2023-10-24 3 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2023-24452

cvss
7.2
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Exploited
added 2023-10-23
epss
92.9%
EPSS 92.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 99.8%
public exploits
2
Metasploit

Summary

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.

Patch / fix

cisa 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.

  • cisco ios_xe 16.12.10a, 17.3.8a, 17.6.6a, 17.9.4a

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

cisa ICSA-23-297-01 updated cvss 7.2

Rockwell Automation Stratix 5800 and Stratix 5200 (UPDATE A)

  • Rockwell Automation Stratix 5200 (running Cisco IOS XE Software with the Web UI feature enabled) Rockwell Automation Stratix 5800 (running Cisco IOS XE Software with the Web UI feature enabled)
    affected: mitigation “Rockwell Automation strongly encourages customers to follow guidance disabling Stratix HTTP servers on all internet-facing systems.” blog.talosintelligence.com

From CISA ICS and IT advisories (CSAF, https://github.com/cisagov/CSAF), a U.S. Government work; changed: reduced to products, statuses and remediations. CISA notification · csaf

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (Metasploit auxiliary/admin/http/cisco_ios_xe_os_exec_cve_2023_20273)
  2. Added to CISA KEV
  3. Published
  4. CISA patch deadline
  5. CISA SSVC: exploitation active

Known exploited

Added
3 y ago
Patch by
2023-10-27 (3 y ago)
Ransomware
Not known
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.
Vendor, product
Cisco, Cisco IOS XE Web UI
CISA name
Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection Vulnerability

ATT&CK techniques

How it is exploited and what it leads to, in MITRE ATT&CK terms.

  • T1078 Valid Accounts exploitation
  • T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation primary impact
  • T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter secondary impact

kev release 2025-07-28, att&ck v16.1. KEV to ATT&CK mappings by the MITRE Center for Threat-Informed Defense (Mappings Explorer, Apache-2.0). © 2026 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation. Terms of use

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Active, exploited in the wild
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
2 y ago

Exploit prediction

92.94% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99.8% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 7.2 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 3.1 7.2 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

  • Cisco Cisco IOS XE Software

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.