Critical severity · published Oct 16, 2023
CVE-2023-20198
Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
In wildKEV
10.0
CVSS
99.6%
EPSS
Yes
On KEV
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.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Changed
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)99.6% · higher than 100% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildYes
CISA KEVListed Oct 16, 2023
Federal remediation dueOct 20, 2023
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
IX
IOS XE · Cisco
16.12 before 16.12.10a; 17.3 before 17.3.8a; 17.6 before 17.6.6a; 17.9 before 17.9.4a · source: NVD
CI
Cisco IOS XE Software · Cisco
16.1.1; 16.1.2; 16.1.3; 16.2.1; 16.2.2; 16.3.1; +34 more · source: vendor
AS
Allen-bradley Stratix 5200 Firmware · Rockwellautomation
before 17.12.02 · source: NVD
AS
Allen-bradley Stratix 5800 Firmware · Rockwellautomation
before 17.12.02 · source: NVD
IX
IOS XE Web UI · Cisco
All versions, or not specified · source: KEV
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20198
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20198
CISA KEV catalogue
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
sec.cloudapps.cisco.com
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxe-webui-privesc-j22SaA4z
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