Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-20117

RCE in Cisco Rv320 Firmware 1.5.1.13

Published
05 April 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.2
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.28 98th percentile
Risk Priority 68 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-20117 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Expression/Command Delimiters (CWE-146) vulnerability in Cisco Rv320 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.2 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

Multiple vulnerabilities affect the web-based management interface of Cisco Small Business RV320 and RV325 Dual Gigabit WAN VPN Routers. These issues stem from insufficient validation of user-supplied input and are tracked under CWE-78 and CWE-146, enabling an authenticated remote attacker to inject and execute arbitrary commands as the root user on the underlying Linux operating system. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 7.2 with a network attack vector and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

An attacker who possesses valid Administrator credentials on an affected device can send crafted input through the management interface to achieve command execution. No unauthenticated exploitation path is described.

Cisco's security advisory states that no software updates have been released to address the vulnerabilities and directs administrators to the published advisory for further details.

The EPSS score rose materially from a low baseline to a peak of 0.1712 before receding to the current value of 0.0035, indicating that exploitation interest emerged after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Multiple vulnerabilities in the web-based management interface of Cisco Small Business RV320 and RV325 Dual Gigabit WAN VPN Routers could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to inject and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device.…

more

These vulnerabilities are due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending malicious input to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as the root user on the underlying Linux operating system of the affected device. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker would need to have valid Administrator credentials on the affected device. Cisco has not released software updates to address these vulnerabilities.

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.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
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.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-20128Same product: Cisco Rv320
CVE-2019-1652Same product: Cisco Rv320
CVE-2019-1653Same product: Cisco Rv320
CVE-2023-20050Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20458Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20277Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2026-24699Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20424Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20483Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2023-20022Same vendor: Cisco

Affected Assets

cisco
rv320 firmware
1.5.1.13
cisco
rv325 firmware
1.5.1.13

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)
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V15.2.5

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-78

Platform-independent apps typically execute inside a managed runtime or sandbox that restricts direct OS command execution, reducing the ability to exploit OS command injection.

addresses: CWE-78

Validates inputs to block special elements that would alter OS command execution.

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.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).

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