Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-20035

Cisco Ios Xe Sd-Wan

Published
23 March 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0022 13th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-20035 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Expression/Command Delimiters (CWE-146) vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe Sd-Wan. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked at the 13th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation by the system CLI. An attacker with privileges…

more

to run commands could exploit this vulnerability by first authenticating to an affected device using either local terminal access or a management shell interface and then submitting crafted input to the system CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands on the underlying operating system with root-level privileges. An attacker with limited user privileges could use this vulnerability to gain complete control over the system. Note: For additional information about specific impacts, see the Details section of this advisory.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-20329Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20470Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2023-20117Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2023-20128Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2023-20027Same product: Cisco 1100-4G\/6G Integrated Services Router
CVE-2022-20775Same product: Cisco 1100-4P Integrated Services Router
CVE-2024-20444Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2026-20016Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20483Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20335Same vendor: Cisco

Affected Assets

cisco
ios xe sd-wan
all versions

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input neutralization to prevent delimiter/command injection.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing can detect the weakness but does not prevent it by itself.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and output encoding that directly neutralizes expression/command delimiters.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection and delimiter-based attacks.

prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce attack surface but do not prescribe delimiter neutralization.

prevents

Secure coding standards require proper neutralization of special elements, directly eliminating this weakness.

References