Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-20129

Path Traversal in Cisco Prime Infrastructure ≤ 3.7

Published
05 April 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0092 57th percentile
Risk Priority 52 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-20129 is a medium-severity Path Traversal: 'dir/../../filename' (CWE-27) vulnerability in Cisco Prime Infrastructure. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); 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

Vulnerability Data

Multiple vulnerabilities in the web-based management interface of Cisco Prime Infrastructure and Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM) could allow a remote attacker to obtain privileged information and conduct cross-site scripting (XSS) and cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks. For more…

more

information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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-2023-20130Same product: Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager
CVE-2023-20131Same product: Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager
CVE-2023-20127Same product: Cisco Prime Infrastructure
CVE-2024-20348Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2020-3187Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2015-0666Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2023-20090Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20344Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2026-20148Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20532Same vendor: Cisco

Affected Assets

cisco
prime infrastructure
3.8, 3.8.1, 3.9, 3.9.1 · ≤ 3.7 · 3.10 — 3.10.2
cisco
evolved programmable network manager
≤ 5.0.2.5 · 5.1 — 5.1.4.2 · 6.0 — 6.0.2.1

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.

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-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and path sanitization that prevent directory traversal flaws.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes will discover path traversal weaknesses during code or configuration review.

PR.AA-05 partial match
prevents

Least-privilege file permissions and access enforcement can limit the damage from a successful traversal.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

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.

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.

prevents

Secure coding standards require neutralizing '../' sequences and using safe file APIs, eliminating this exact weakness.

finds

Security testing in development catches path-traversal flaws before release but does not itself implement the control.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevents directory traversal.

prevents

Application security requirements include explicit rules for safe file-path handling and canonicalization.

prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe path construction but do not prescribe the specific coding fix.

mitigates

Information access restriction can limit which files are reachable, reducing impact but not preventing the traversal vector.

References