Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-20252

Critical

Published: 27 September 2023

Published
27 September 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0100 77.4th percentile
Risk Priority 20 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2023-20252 is a critical-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 22.6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

A vulnerability in the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) APIs of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain unauthorized access to the application as an arbitrary user. This vulnerability is due to improper authentication…

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checks for SAML APIs. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending requests directly to the SAML API. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to generate an authorization token sufficient to gain access to the application.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

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

Affected Assets

cisco
catalyst sd-wan manager
20.11.1.2, 20.9.3.2

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-287 CWE-862

Session content review can reveal authentication bypasses or failures in session establishment.

addresses: CWE-287 CWE-862

Assessments check authentication mechanisms for correct implementation and effectiveness, reducing successful authentication bypass attempts.

addresses: CWE-287 CWE-862

Identity providers centralize and enforce authentication mechanisms, reducing improper authentication.

addresses: CWE-862 CWE-287

Requires explicit authorization before any identifier can be assigned, preventing missing authorization.

addresses: CWE-287 CWE-862

Personnel screening, identity verification, and access-agreement requirements support reliable authentication and reduce authentication bypass opportunities.

addresses: CWE-287 CWE-862

Requiring explicit security roles and risk integration in the SDLC forces authentication mechanisms to be planned, documented, and validated instead of omitted or weakly implemented.

addresses: CWE-287 CWE-862

Decoy authentication surfaces detect bypass attempts and deflect real credential attacks through observable malicious interactions.

addresses: CWE-862

Requiring an access control policy ensures authorization checks are defined and applied for critical functions.

References