CVE-2023-20087

Path Traversal in Cisco Identity Services Engine ≤ 3.1

Path Traversal

Published

18 May 2023

Modified

21 November 2024

Patch / advisory

View advisory

CVSS Score v3.1 4.9

Click a component to see what it means

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

EPSS Score 0.0084 57th 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-2023-20087 is a medium-severity Path Traversal: '/absolute/pathname/here' (CWE-37) vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine. Its CVSS base score is 4.9 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 43% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-24266

Vulnerability Data

Multiple vulnerabilities in the web-based management interface of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to download arbitrary files from the filesystem of an affected device. These vulnerabilities are due to insufficient input validation. An attacker…

could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending crafted HTTP requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to download arbitrary files from the underlying filesystem of the affected device.

CWE(s): CWE-37 CWE-22

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control

Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.

attack.mitre.org →

T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access

Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.

attack.mitre.org →

T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access

Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.

attack.mitre.org →

T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access

Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…

attack.mitre.org →

T1005 Data from Local System Collection

Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.

attack.mitre.org →

T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery

Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.

attack.mitre.org →

Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-20077Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

CVE-2023-20167Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

CVE-2023-20166Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

CVE-2024-20532Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

CVE-2026-20180Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

CVE-2024-20527Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

CVE-2024-20528Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

CVE-2024-20529Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

CVE-2026-20181Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

CVE-2026-20148Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

Affected Assets

cisco

identity services engine

3.2 · ≤ 3.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent

Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect

Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden

Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate

Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

V5.3.2

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.

SI-10 Information Input Validation

addresses: CWE-22

Validates pathnames and filenames to prevent traversal outside intended 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.PS-02 partial match

blocks

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.PS-06 partial match

blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation that prevents absolute path traversal.

PR.AA-05 none match

blocks

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

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