Security Resilience

CVE-2023-20173

XXE in Cisco Identity Services Engine ≤ 3.0.0

XXE
Published
18 May 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.9
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:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0077 54th percentile
Risk Priority 40 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-20173 is a medium-severity Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (CWE-611) vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine. Its CVSS base score is 4.9 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 46% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A02:2025 Security Misconfiguration

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Multiple vulnerabilities in the web-based management interface of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to read arbitrary files or conduct a server-side request forgery (SSRF) attack through an affected device. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an…

more

attacker must have valid Administrator credentials on the affected device. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

CWE(s)
CWE-611

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
attack.mitre.org →
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-20030Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20174Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2024-20531Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2026-76424Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20167Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20166Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20077Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20087Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20243Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20272Same product: Cisco Identity Services Engine

Affected Assets

cisco
identity services engine
3.0.0, 3.1, 3.2 · ≤ 3.0.0

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)
  • V1.5.1
  • V15.3.2

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.

CA-8 Penetration Testing
addresses: CWE-611

Penetration testing includes XML external entity payloads, detecting XXE vulnerabilities and enabling their mitigation.

SI-4 System Monitoring
addresses: CWE-611

Identifies XML external entity processing via monitoring of unusual file/network access or resource usage.

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.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability scanning can discover XXE flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.

PR.PS-01 partial match
blocks

Hardened XML parser configurations directly disable external entity resolution.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching eliminates XXE-vulnerable parser versions but is only one aspect of software maintenance.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices include input validation and safe XML parser configuration that prevent XXE.

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.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.5.32 Intellectual property rights partial match
removes

References