Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-20162

Memory Safety in Cisco Business 250-16P-2G Firmware

Published
18 May 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.012 65th percentile
Risk Priority 66 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-20162 is a high-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Cisco Business 250-16P-2G Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 35% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Multiple vulnerabilities in the web-based user interface of certain Cisco Small Business Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition or execute arbitrary code with root privileges on an affected device. These…

more

vulnerabilities are due to improper validation of requests that are sent to the web interface. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
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.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-20161Same product: Cisco Business 250-16P-2G
CVE-2023-20157Same product: Cisco Business 250-16P-2G
CVE-2023-20156Same product: Cisco Business 250-16P-2G
CVE-2023-20159Same product: Cisco Business 250-16P-2G
CVE-2023-20158Same product: Cisco Business 250-16P-2G
CVE-2023-20160Same product: Cisco Business 250-16P-2G
CVE-2023-20024Same product: Cisco Business 250-16P-2G
CVE-2023-20189Same product: Cisco Business 250-16P-2G
CVE-2024-20454Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20313Same vendor: Cisco

Affected Assets

cisco
business 250-16p-2g firmware
all versions
cisco
business 250-16t-2g firmware
all versions
cisco
business 250-24fp-4g firmware
all versions
cisco
business 250-24fp-4x firmware
all versions
cisco
business 250-24p-4g firmware
all versions
cisco
business 250-24p-4x firmware
all versions
cisco
business 250-24pp-4g firmware
all versions
cisco
business 250-24t-4g firmware
all versions
cisco
business 250-24t-4x firmware
all versions
cisco
business 250-48p-4g firmware
all versions
+219 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

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)
  • V5.2.1

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-120

Platform-independent managed code eliminates the need for unchecked native buffer copies that are the root cause of classic buffer overflows.

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 development practices directly enforce bounds checking and input validation that prevent classic buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes such as code review or scanning detect classic buffer overflows before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing unchecked buffer copies with corrected versions.

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 directly requires bounds-checked memory operations, addressing the root cause of CWE-120.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect buffer overflows through fuzzing and static analysis, though it does not prevent them at the source.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates processes that can include input validation and bounds checking to prevent buffer overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify input-size validation and safe buffer handling to mitigate classic buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles promote defensive coding patterns that reduce the likelihood of unchecked buffer copies.

References