Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-20235

Medium

Published: 04 October 2023

Published
04 October 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0018 39.1th percentile
Risk Priority 13 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2023-20235 is a medium-severity Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties (CWE-552) vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked at the 39.1th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

A vulnerability in the on-device application development workflow feature for the Cisco IOx application hosting infrastructure in Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access the underlying operating system as the root user. This vulnerability exists…

more

because Docker containers with the privileged runtime option are not blocked when they are in application development mode. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using the Docker CLI to access an affected device. The application development workflow is meant to be used only on development systems and not in production systems.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.

Affected Assets

cisco
ios xe
≤ 17.3.1

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-269

Policy addresses roles, responsibilities, and privilege management to prevent improper privilege assignments.

addresses: CWE-269

Access supervision ensures privileges are assigned and managed without improper escalation or retention.

addresses: CWE-269

Assigning group/role memberships and access authorizations (privileges) while reviewing accounts addresses improper privilege management.

addresses: CWE-552

Controls on authorized publication limit files and directories with nonpublic data from becoming accessible to external parties.

addresses: CWE-269

Enforces proper privilege management by requiring all decisions through the verified reference monitor.

addresses: CWE-269

By mandating division of duties across roles, the control enforces proper privilege management and prevents a single entity from controlling an entire sensitive process.

addresses: CWE-269

Implements core proper privilege management by restricting to only required rights.

addresses: CWE-269

Policy requires training on privilege management and least privilege, making it harder to exploit improper privilege management weaknesses.

References