Security Resilience

CVE-2023-20039

Cisco Industrial Network Director ≤ 1.11.3

Published
15 November 2024
Modified
11 August 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0020 9th percentile
Risk Priority 41 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-20039 is a medium-severity Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties (CWE-552) vulnerability in Cisco Industrial Network Director. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Automated Collection (T1119); ranked at the 9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability in Cisco IND could allow an authenticated, local attacker to read application data. This vulnerability is due to insufficient default file permissions that are applied to the application data directory. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by accessing…

more

files in the application data directory. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to view sensitive information. Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability. 

CWE(s)
CWE-552

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1119 Automated Collection Collection
Once established within a system or network, an adversary may use automated techniques for collecting internal data.
attack.mitre.org →
T1552.001 Credentials In Files Credential Access
Adversaries may search local file systems and remote file shares for files containing insecurely stored credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1552.004 Private Keys Credential Access
Adversaries may search for private key certificate files on compromised systems for insecurely stored credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-20038Same product: Cisco Industrial Network Director
CVE-2023-20037Same product: Cisco Industrial Network Director
CVE-2023-20036Same product: Cisco Industrial Network Director
CVE-2023-20183Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2023-20184Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2023-20235Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20118Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-7389Shared CWE-552
CVE-2025-52460Shared CWE-552
CVE-2026-31216Shared CWE-552

Affected Assets

cisco
industrial network director
≤ 1.11.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 5 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V8.4.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

AC-3 directly enforces authorization checks on access to files and directories, stopping unauthorized external exposure.

AC-6 Least Privilege good match

AC-6 limits granted privileges, reducing the chance that files or directories become reachable by external parties.

AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement partial match

AC-4 enforces information flow rules that can block unauthorized external access to files or directories.

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.AA-05 partial match
blocks

Enforcing least-privilege permissions and authorization policies directly prevents unauthorized file/directory exposure.

PR.DS-01 partial match
blocks

Data-at-rest protections such as encryption or ACLs reduce the impact of unintended file exposure.

PR.IR-01 partial match
blocks

Logical segmentation and access protections stop external parties from reaching files that should remain internal.

PR.PS-01 partial match
blocks

Hardened configuration baselines commonly include file-system permission settings that limit external access.

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.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.7.6 Working in secure areas partial match
removes

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
  • V-248579 OL 8 must restrict access to the kernel message buffer. blocks CWE-552
  • V-248597 There must be no "shosts.equiv" files on the OL 8 operating system. blocks CWE-552

References