HackZoneLabs News
Newsletter

CVE-2023-20273

Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection Vulnerability

  • High 7.2
  • Exploited: added to CISA KEV 23 Oct 2023

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.

Key facts

Published
24 Oct 2023
Last changed
21 Oct 2025
Assigned by
cisco
KEV added
23 Oct 2023
KEV fix due
27 Oct 2023
EPSS
92.938% likely to be exploited in the next 30 days, higher than 99.834% of CVEs (scores for 15 Nov 2026)
SSVC (CISA)
Exploitation: active; Automatable: no; Technical impact: total

Severity scores

Each score is shown as its source gave it. They are not averaged or merged.

  • 7.2CVSS 3.1, Highfrom the CNA (cisco)CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

What to do

  • 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.CISA KEV required action

Historical context and remediation

This reference retains the original CVE publication date. A recent record update does not mean a new attack occurred.

No separately sourced impact summary is available on this page yet. Consult the description, version data and dated exploitation evidence.

Version statuses below come from the CNA. An “unaffected” version is not necessarily a currently supported release or proof of a patch date. EPSS is a dated risk estimate, not a count of historical attacks.

Read the original CVE record.

Affected products

VendorProductVersions
CiscoCisco IOS XE Software
  • 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 (affected)
  • 16.5.3 (affected)
  • 16.6.1 (affected)
  • 16.6.2 (affected)
  • 16.6.3 (affected)
  • 16.6.4 (affected)
  • 16.6.5 (affected)
  • 16.6.4a (affected)
  • 16.6.5a (affected)
  • 16.6.6 (affected)
  • 16.6.7 (affected)
  • 16.6.8 (affected)
  • 16.6.9 (affected)
  • 16.6.10 (affected)
  • 16.7.1 (affected)
  • 16.7.1a (affected)
  • 16.7.1b (affected)
  • 16.7.2 (affected)
  • 16.7.3 (affected)
  • 16.7.4 (affected)
  • 16.8.1 (affected)
  • 16.8.1a (affected)
  • 16.8.1b (affected)
  • 16.8.1s (affected)
  • 16.8.1c (affected)
  • 16.8.1d (affected)
  • 16.8.2 (affected)
  • 16.8.1e (affected)
  • 16.8.3 (affected)
  • 16.9.1 (affected)
  • 16.9.2 (affected)
  • 16.9.1a (affected)
  • 16.9.1b (affected)
  • 16.9.1s (affected)
  • 16.9.3 (affected)
  • 16.9.4 (affected)
  • 16.9.3a (affected)
  • 16.9.5 (affected)
  • 16.9.5f (affected)
  • 16.9.6 (affected)
  • 16.9.7 (affected)
  • 16.9.8 (affected)
  • 16.10.1 (affected)
  • 16.10.1a (affected)
  • 16.10.1b (affected)
  • 16.10.1s (affected)
  • 16.10.1c (affected)
  • 16.10.1e (affected)
  • 16.10.1d (affected)
  • 16.10.2 (affected)
  • 16.10.1f (affected)
  • 16.10.1g (affected)
  • 16.10.3 (affected)
  • 16.11.1 (affected)
  • 16.11.1a (affected)
  • 16.11.1b (affected)
  • 16.11.2 (affected)
  • 16.11.1s (affected)
  • 16.12.1 (affected)
  • 16.12.1s (affected)
  • 16.12.1a (affected)
  • 16.12.1c (affected)
  • 16.12.1w (affected)
  • 16.12.2 (affected)
  • 16.12.1y (affected)
  • 16.12.2a (affected)
  • 16.12.3 (affected)
  • 16.12.8 (affected)
  • 16.12.2s (affected)
  • 16.12.1x (affected)
  • 16.12.1t (affected)
  • 16.12.4 (affected)
  • 16.12.3s (affected)
  • 16.12.3a (affected)
  • 16.12.4a (affected)
  • 16.12.5 (affected)
  • 16.12.6 (affected)
  • 16.12.1z1 (affected)
  • 16.12.5a (affected)
  • 16.12.5b (affected)
  • 16.12.1z2 (affected)
  • 16.12.6a (affected)
  • 16.12.7 (affected)
  • 16.12.9 (affected)
  • 16.12.10 (affected)
  • 17.1.1 (affected)
  • 17.1.1a (affected)
  • 17.1.1s (affected)
  • 17.1.1t (affected)
  • 17.1.3 (affected)
  • 17.2.1 (affected)
  • 17.2.1r (affected)
  • 17.2.1a (affected)
  • 17.2.1v (affected)
  • 17.2.2 (affected)
  • 17.2.3 (affected)
  • 17.3.1 (affected)
  • 17.3.2 (affected)
  • 17.3.3 (affected)
  • 17.3.1a (affected)
  • 17.3.1w (affected)
  • 17.3.2a (affected)
  • 17.3.1x (affected)
  • 17.3.1z (affected)
  • 17.3.4 (affected)
  • 17.3.5 (affected)
  • 17.3.4a (affected)
  • 17.3.6 (affected)
  • 17.3.4b (affected)
  • 17.3.4c (affected)
  • 17.3.5a (affected)
  • 17.3.5b (affected)
  • 17.3.7 (affected)
  • 17.3.8 (affected)
  • 17.4.1 (affected)
  • 17.4.2 (affected)
  • 17.4.1a (affected)
  • 17.4.1b (affected)
  • 17.4.2a (affected)
  • 17.5.1 (affected)
  • 17.5.1a (affected)
  • 17.5.1b (affected)
  • 17.5.1c (affected)
  • 17.6.1 (affected)
  • 17.6.2 (affected)
  • 17.6.1w (affected)
  • 17.6.1a (affected)
  • 17.6.1x (affected)
  • 17.6.3 (affected)
  • 17.6.1y (affected)
  • 17.6.1z (affected)
  • 17.6.3a (affected)
  • 17.6.4 (affected)
  • 17.6.1z1 (affected)
  • 17.6.5 (affected)
  • 17.6.6 (affected)
  • 17.7.1 (affected)
  • 17.7.1a (affected)
  • 17.7.1b (affected)
  • 17.7.2 (affected)
  • 17.10.1 (affected)
  • 17.10.1a (affected)
  • 17.10.1b (affected)
  • 17.8.1 (affected)
  • 17.8.1a (affected)
  • 17.9.1 (affected)
  • 17.9.1w (affected)
  • 17.9.2 (affected)
  • 17.9.1a (affected)
  • 17.9.1x (affected)
  • 17.9.1y (affected)
  • 17.9.3 (affected)
  • 17.9.2a (affected)
  • 17.9.1x1 (affected)
  • 17.9.3a (affected)
  • 17.9.4 (affected)
  • 17.9.1y1 (affected)
  • 17.11.1 (affected)
  • 17.11.1a (affected)
  • 17.12.1 (affected)
  • 17.12.1a (affected)
  • 17.11.99SW (affected)

Timeline

  1. 23 Oct 2023 CVE-2023-20273 added to CISA KEV
  2. 23 Oct 2023 Added to the CISA KEV catalogue
  3. 24 Oct 2023 Published

Weakness

Practice this bug class

HackZoneLabs has a hands-on lab on OS command injection (CWE-78).

Open the learning platform

References