CVE-2023-20235

HIGH

8.8

CVSS Score

Published: October 4, 2023 at 04:14 PM UTC

Updated: June 17, 2026 at 05:29 AM UTC

20 products affected across 1 vendorIOS XeCatalyst Ie3300 Rugged SwitchCatalyst Ie3200 Rugged Switch

Using Cisco IOS XE Software by Cisco?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect Cisco IOS XE Software - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available

Start Free Sign In

Severity

HIGH8.8

Exploit prediction

EPSS 0.9%

SSVC

No known exploit

Description

A vulnerability in the on-device application development workflow feature for the Cisco IOx application hosting infrastructure in Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access the underlying operating system as the root user. This vulnerability exists because Docker containers with the privileged runtime option are not blocked when they are in application development mode. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using the Docker CLI to access an affected device. The application development workflow is meant to be used only on development systems and not in production systems.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

IOS Xe · Cisco

95%

Affected range stops below 17.3.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

cisco-catalyst-ie3200-rugged-switch (environment) · cisco-catalyst-ie3300-rugged-switch (environment) · cisco-catalyst-ie3400-rugged-switch (environment) · cisco-catalyst-ir1101 (environment) · cisco-catalyst-ir1821-k9 (environment) · cisco-catalyst-ir1831-k9 (environment) · cisco-catalyst-ir1833-k9 (environment) · cisco-catalyst-ir1835-k9 (environment) · cisco-catalyst-ir8140h-k9 (environment) · cisco-catalyst-ir8140h-p-k9 (environment) · cisco-catalyst-ir8340-k9 (environment) · cisco-ess-3300-24t-con-a (environment) · cisco-ess-3300-24t-con-e (environment) · cisco-ess-3300-24t-ncp-a (environment) · cisco-ess-3300-24t-ncp-e (environment) · cisco-ess-3300-con-a (environment) · cisco-ess-3300-con-e (environment) · cisco-ess-3300-ncp-a (environment) · cisco-ess-3300-ncp-e (environment)

Catalyst Ie3200 Rugged Switch · Ciscodevice

80%

All versions

Catalyst Ie3300 Rugged Switch · Ciscodevice

80%

All versions

Catalyst Ie3400 Rugged Switch · Ciscodevice

80%

All versions

Catalyst Ir1101 · Ciscodevice

80%

All versions