CVE-2023-20033
Published: 27 September 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-20033 is a high-severity Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (CWE-770) vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe. Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).
Operationally, ranked at the 36.6th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-24212
Vulnerability details
A vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst 3650 and Catalyst 3850 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability…
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is due to improper resource management when processing traffic that is received on the management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a high rate of traffic to the management interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
This control implements explicit throttling on session allocation, addressing the weakness of allocating resources without limits.
Plan testing exercises resource allocation limits and throttling during simulated failures, directly addressing weaknesses that allow unbounded resource use.
Contingency plan updates ensure recovery strategies address unbounded resource allocation, making it harder for attackers to exploit lack of throttling to cause prolonged outages.
Provides continuity when unbounded resource allocation at the primary site leads to exhaustion and downtime.
Alternate services allow operations to continue when primary allocation of resources lacks limits or throttling.
Explicit planning of security-related actions requires defining limits, windows, and resource allocations, making allocation without throttling far less likely.
Measures of performance include tracking allocation behavior and throttling effectiveness, reducing the window for resource exhaustion attacks.
Imposes an inactivity-based limit on network resource allocation, throttling the number of concurrently held connections.