CVE-2023-20273
HIGH
7.2
CVSS Score
Published: October 24, 2023 at 02:13 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 05:30 AM UTC
124 products affected across 1 vendorIOS XeCatalyst 3850-24Xu-ECatalyst 3850-16Xs-S
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Severity
HIGH7.2
Exploitation
CISA KEV
Exploit prediction
EPSS 93%
SSVC
Active
Actively Exploited
CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog
EPSS Score92.9%
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) estimates a 92.9% chance this CVE is exploited in the wild within the next 30 days — higher than 100% of all CVEs. It complements CVSS: a high EPSS on a mid-severity CVE can still be urgent.
Cisco IOS XE contains a command injection vulnerability in the web user interface. When chained with CVE-2023-20198, the attacker can leverage the new local user to elevate privilege to root and write the implant to the file system. Cisco identified CVE-2023-20273 as the vulnerability exploited to deploy the implant. CVE-2021-1435, previously associated with the exploitation events, is no longer believed to be related to this activity.
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.
Ransomware Use
Unknown
Added to KEV
Oct 23, 2023
Remediation Due
Oct 27, 2023
1101 days overdue
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.
Affected
Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.
16.12 ≤ v < 16.12.10a17.3 ≤ v < 17.3.8a17.6 ≤ v < 17.6.6a17.9 ≤ v < 17.9.4a16.1.116.1.216.1.316.10.116.10.1a16.10.1b16.10.1c16.10.1d16.10.1e16.10.1f16.10.1g16.10.1s16.10.216.10.316.11.116.11.1a16.11.1b16.11.1s16.11.216.12.116.12.1016.12.1a16.12.1c16.12.1s16.12.1t16.12.1w16.12.1x16.12.1y16.12.1z116.12.1z216.12.216.12.2a16.12.2s16.12.316.12.3a16.12.3s16.12.416.12.4a16.12.516.12.5a16.12.5b16.12.616.12.6a16.12.716.12.816.12.916.2.116.2.216.3.116.3.1016.3.1116.3.1a16.3.216.3.316.3.416.3.516.3.5b16.3.616.3.716.3.816.3.916.4.116.4.216.4.316.5.116.5.1a16.5.1b16.5.216.5.316.6.116.6.1016.6.216.6.316.6.416.6.4a16.6.516.6.5a16.6.616.6.716.6.816.6.916.7.116.7.1a16.7.1b16.7.216.7.316.7.416.8.116.8.1a16.8.1b16.8.1c16.8.1d16.8.1e16.8.1s16.8.216.8.316.9.116.9.1a16.9.1b16.9.1s16.9.216.9.316.9.3a16.9.416.9.516.9.5f16.9.616.9.716.9.817.1.117.1.1a17.1.1s17.1.1t17.1.317.10.117.10.1a17.10.1b17.11.117.11.1a17.11.99SW17.11.99sw17.12.117.12.1a17.2.117.2.1a17.2.1r17.2.1v17.2.217.2.317.3.117.3.1a17.3.1w17.3.1x17.3.1z17.3.217.3.2a17.3.317.3.417.3.4a17.3.4b17.3.4c17.3.517.3.5a17.3.5b17.3.617.3.717.3.817.4.117.4.1a17.4.1b17.4.217.4.2a17.5.117.5.1a17.5.1b17.5.1c17.6.117.6.1a17.6.1w17.6.1x17.6.1y17.6.1z17.6.1z117.6.217.6.317.6.3a17.6.417.6.517.6.617.7.117.7.1a17.7.1b17.7.217.8.117.8.1a17.9.117.9.1a17.9.1w17.9.1x17.9.1x117.9.1y17.9.1y117.9.217.9.2a17.9.317.9.3a17.9.4
Affected range stops below 16.12.10a, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 17.3.8a, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 17.6.6a, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 17.9.4a, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
cisco-catalyst-3650 (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48fd-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48fd-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48fd-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48uq (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48uq-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48uq-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48uq-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48ur (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48ur-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48ur-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48ur-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48uz (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48uz-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48uz-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-12x48uz-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24pd (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24pd-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24pd-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24pd-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24pdm (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24pdm-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24pdm-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24pdm-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24ps-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24ps-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24ps-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24td-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24td-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24td-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24ts-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24ts-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-24ts-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fd-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fd-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fd-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fq (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fq-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fq-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fq-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fqm (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fqm-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fqm-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fqm-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fs-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fs-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48fs-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48pd-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48pd-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48pd-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48pq-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48pq-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48pq-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48ps-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48ps-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48ps-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48td-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48td-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48td-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48tq-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48tq-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48tq-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48ts-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48ts-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-48ts-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-8x24pd-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-8x24pd-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-8x24pd-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-8x24uq (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-8x24uq-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-8x24uq-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3650-8x24uq-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850 (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-12s-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-12s-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-12x48u (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-12xs-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-12xs-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-16xs-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-16xs-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24p-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24p-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24p-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24pw-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24s-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24s-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24t-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24t-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24t-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24u (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24u-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24u-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24u-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24xs (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24xs-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24xs-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24xu (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24xu-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24xu-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-24xu-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-32xs-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-32xs-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48f-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48f-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48f-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48p-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48p-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48p-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48pw-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48t-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48t-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48t-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48u (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48u-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48u-l (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48u-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48xs (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48xs-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48xs-f-e (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48xs-f-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-48xs-s (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-nm-2-40g (environment) · cisco-catalyst-3850-nm-8-10g (environment)
Catalyst 3650· Ciscodevice
80%All versions
80%
All versions
80%
All versions
80%
All versions
80%
All versions
80%
All versions
80%
All versions
80%
All versions
80%
All versions
Remediation
No guide yetNo remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:
Patch and advisory references
References (2)
US Government Resource
Source: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-20273SSVC — Action Prioritization
SSVCActiveNot automatableTotal impact
SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.
CVSS
7.2HIGHcisco
- Attack Vector
- NETWORK
- Complexity
- LOW
- Privileges
- HIGH
- User Interaction
- NONE
- Scope
- UNCHANGED
- Confidentiality
- HIGH
- Integrity
- HIGH
- Availability
- HIGH
Vector?
Quick Info
StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-78
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