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Ios Xe CVE-2023-20273

HIGH
OS Command Injection (CWE-78)
2023-10-25 psirt@cisco.com
7.2
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization OS command sanitization, avoid shell exec
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 1 tactic: Execution

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 7.2 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host by sending crafted requests to the affected application.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: HIGH severity + EPSS > 10%.
Exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) No patch listed yet 89.6% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

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. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Avoid passing user input to shell commands. Use language-specific APIs instead of shell execution. Apply strict input validation with allowlists.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as OS Command Injection (CWE-78), which allows attackers to execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host. 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. Affected products include: Cisco Ios Xe.

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 7.2 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
High
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Added to CISA KEV
Jul 14, 2026 - 04:22 CISA
CVE Published
Oct 25, 2023 - 18:17 nvd
HIGH 7.2

DescriptionNVD

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.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
89.6%
Top 0% exploitable
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV Yes
Public POC Yes
EPSS 89.6%
Patch available No
Active threat Yes
Deciding rule
HIGH severity + EPSS > 10%
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Out-of-Cycle
Exploitation· derived
Active
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
High

Priority Score

211
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: +50
EPSS: +90
CVSS: +36
PoC: +20
Weaponized: +15
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

OS command injection occurs when an application passes unsanitized user input directly into system shell commands.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.1a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.5b:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.3.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:16.4.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
+ 169 more

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