Security Resilience

CVE-2023-20182

Access Control in Cisco Catalyst Center ≤ 2.3.3.7

Published
18 May 2023
Modified
23 July 2025
Patch / 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 0.0062 49th percentile
Risk Priority 44 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-2023-20182 is a medium-severity Improper Authorization (CWE-285) vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst Center. Its CVSS base score is 5.4 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked at the 49th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); 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 API of Cisco DNA Center Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to read information from a restricted container, enumerate user information, or execute arbitrary commands in a restricted container as the root user. For more…

more

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

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-20333Same product: Cisco Catalyst Center
CVE-2023-20183Same product: Cisco Catalyst Center
CVE-2023-20184Same product: Cisco Catalyst Center
CVE-2025-20146Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2018-0125Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20406Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2009-2055Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2025-20393Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20394Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2026-20153Same vendor: Cisco

Affected Assets

cisco
catalyst center
≤ 2.3.3.7 · 2.3.4 — 2.3.5.3

Mitigating Controls

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-285

Documented procedures facilitate correct implementation and ongoing management of authorization decisions.

addresses: CWE-285

Periodic reviews identify and correct flaws in authorization decisions or enforcement.

addresses: CWE-285

The control's documentation requirement reduces improper authorization by ensuring only mission-justified actions bypass authentication.

addresses: CWE-285

Establishing permitted attributes and values, plus auditing changes, ensures authorization decisions are based on correctly managed policy data.

addresses: CWE-285

Explicitly mandates authorizing remote access types before permitting connections, directly mitigating improper authorization.

addresses: CWE-285

The control explicitly requires authorization of each wireless access type prior to permitting connections.

addresses: CWE-285

Mandating explicit authorization of mobile device connections reduces the risk of improper authorization decisions for system access.

addresses: CWE-285

Specifying access authorizations for each account and requiring approvals for account requests enforces proper authorization decisions.

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.

blocks

A.5.1 only requires the existence of an overarching policy and topic-specific policies (including on access control); it does not itself perform or enforce any authorization check, so the CWE-285 weakness can still be exploited.

blocks

Mapping access rights to information classification and business requirements forces correct enforcement of authorization decisions, blocking the incorrect authorization weakness at the policy and implementation stage.

finds

Independent reviewers evaluate whether authorization logic matches policy, thereby reducing the window in which incorrect or missing authorization checks remain in production.

finds

By requiring managers to verify that authorization decisions match policy and to remediate deviations, the control limits the persistence of incorrect or missing authorization checks.

blocks

Requiring authorization processes and privilege assignments to be specified during project initiation prevents downstream components from receiving overly broad or incorrect rights that would allow unauthorized actions.

blocks

A.8.25 mandates security requirements, secure coding guidelines, checkpoints, testing (incl. code scans) and developer training in the SDLC, which reaches a slice of input validation defects but leaves the majority (incomplete enforcement, second-order inputs, parser differentials, post-validation canonicalization) unaddressed as in the SA-3 and A.8.28 anchors.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-285, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-552.
  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-20, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.

References