Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-20172

Cisco Identity Services Engine 3.1 … 3.2

Published
18 May 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0040 33th percentile
Risk Priority 43 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-20172 is a medium-severity Client-Side Enforcement of Server-Side Security (CWE-602) vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine. Its CVSS base score is 5.4 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 33th 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 InjectionA06:2025 Insecure Design

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an authenticated attacker to delete or read arbitrary files on the underlying operating system. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker must have valid credentials on an affected device. For more…

more

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

CWE(s)
CWE-602CWE-20

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.
attack.mitre.org →
T1036.001 Invalid Code Signature Stealth
Adversaries may attempt to mimic features of valid code signatures to increase the chance of deceiving a user, analyst, or tool.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-20171Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20106Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2024-20476Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2025-20124Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2025-20152Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20213Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2024-20537Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2024-20466Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20153Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20122Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

Affected Assets

cisco
identity services engine
3.1, 3.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 6 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V10.7.1
  • V2.2.2
  • V8.3.1
  • V10.4.1

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.

PM-14 Testing, Training, and Monitoring
addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and developer training directly verify and enforce proper input validation, reducing exploitability of injection and malformed-data weaknesses.

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation
addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and evaluation at multiple SDLC stages directly detects missing or flawed input validation, with the required remediation process ensuring fixes are applied.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-20

Directly implements checks on information inputs to reject invalid data before processing.

SI-8 Spam Protection
addresses: CWE-20

Spam protection mechanisms perform filtering and detection on inbound/outbound messages, directly compensating for missing or weak input validation of unsolicited content.

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 prevent design flaws that place server security enforcement on the client.

PR.AA-05 partial match
prevents

Proper policy-based enforcement of authorizations implies server-side controls rather than client-only checks.

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.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles mostly match
prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage client-side trust but do not directly address this weakness.

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

Security testing can detect client-side enforcement but is not the primary mitigation.

A.8.3 Information access restriction mostly match
prevents

Information access restriction is undermined when the client is trusted to enforce it.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates server-side validation and prevents reliance on client enforcement.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for server-side enforcement of security mechanisms.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards require server-side checks and reject client-only enforcement.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230265 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-20

References