Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-20097

Command Injection in Cisco Ios Xe ≤ 16.12.8

Command Injection
Published
23 March 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0024 15th percentile
Risk Priority 33 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-20097 is a medium-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe. Its CVSS base score is 4.6 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked at the 15th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability in Cisco access points (AP) software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to inject arbitrary commands and execute them with root privileges. This vulnerability is due to improper input validation of commands that are issued from a wireless…

more

controller to an AP. An attacker with Administrator access to the CLI of the controller could exploit this vulnerability by issuing a command with crafted arguments. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain full root access on the AP.

CWE(s)
CWE-77

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.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.008 Network Device CLI Execution
Adversaries may abuse scripting or built-in command line interpreters (CLI) on network devices to execute malicious command and payloads.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-20056Same product: Cisco Aironet 1540
CVE-2026-20169Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2023-20118Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20117Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20258Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20492Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2026-20186Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20278Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20365Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2026-20147Same vendor: Cisco

Affected Assets

cisco
wireless lan controller software
≤ 8.10.183.0
cisco
aironet access point software
≤ 17.9.0.135
cisco
ios xe
≤ 16.12.8 · 17.1 — 17.3.6 · 17.4 — 17.6.5

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)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

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 validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws before exploitation.

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.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

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

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

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

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

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

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

A.8.31 Separation of development, test and production environments none match
none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References