netVigilance Vulnerability intelligence since 2004
CVE-2023-20273 · netVigilance record NV23-0155

Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection

past due

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 deadline 2023-10-27 · passed 2 years 10 months ago · applies to US federal civilian agencies; used elsewhere as a reference SLA

What happened

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.

Who is affected

Cisco Cisco IOS XE Web UI. Affected version ranges are listed in the vendor advisory and the NVD entry linked under Sources.

Weakness class: CWE-78.

Timeline

  1. Added to CISA KEVExploitation in the wild confirmed by CISA
  2. CISA remediation deadlinepassed 2 years 10 months ago

Sources