Security Resilience

CVE-2023-20045

RCE in Cisco Rv260P Vpn Router With Poe Firmware ≤ 1.0.01.04

Published
20 January 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.9
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0096 61th 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-2023-20045 is a medium-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Cisco Rv260P Vpn Router With Poe Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 4.9 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked in the top 39% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Small Business RV160 and RV260 Series VPN Routers could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due…

more

to insufficient validation of user input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to the web-based management interface of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands using root-level privileges on the affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid Administrator-level credentials on the affected device.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-20184Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2023-20026Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20146Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2018-0125Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20406Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2009-2055Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2023-20124Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20393Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20394Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2026-20153Same vendor: Cisco

Affected Assets

cisco
rv160 vpn router firmware
≤ 1.0.01.04
cisco
rv160w wireless-ac vpn router firmware
≤ 1.0.01.04
cisco
rv260 vpn router firmware
≤ 1.0.01.04
cisco
rv260p vpn router with poe firmware
≤ 1.0.01.04 · ≤ 1.0.01.04

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.

addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and developer training directly verify and enforce proper input validation, reducing exploitability of injection and malformed-data weaknesses.

addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and evaluation at multiple SDLC stages directly detects missing or flawed input validation, with the required remediation process ensuring fixes are applied.

addresses: CWE-20

Directly implements checks on information inputs to reject invalid data before processing.

addresses: CWE-20

Spam protection mechanisms perform filtering and detection on inbound/outbound messages, directly compensating for missing or weak input validation of unsolicited content.

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.

blocks

A.8.25 mandates secure SDLC practices including secure coding guidelines, security requirements, checkpoints, testing (scans/penetration), and developer training that reduce command injection defects, but leaves a minority slice (e.g. incomplete implementation of those practices, outsourced development without full assurance, or post-SDLC changes) where the weakness can still arise and be exploitable.

blocks

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (e.g. distrust external input, secure session control, data validation/sanitization, least privilege) and design reviews that can stop command injection from being introduced, but this is only a minority slice of CWE-77 because the weakness can still arise in code that bypasses those principles, in non-reviewed components, or in runtime injection vectors the architecture review does not reach.

prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-77, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.
  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-20, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.

References