CVE-2023-20273
RCE in Cisco Ios Xe 17.3 – 17.3.8a
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2023-20273 is a high-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe. Its CVSS base score is 7.2 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 0.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2023-20273 is a command injection vulnerability in the web UI feature of Cisco IOS XE Software that stems from insufficient input validation and is tracked under CWE-78. Successful exploitation permits an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with root privileges. The flaw carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.2 and affects the web UI component across supported IOS XE releases.
An authenticated remote attacker with valid administrative credentials can exploit the issue by submitting specially crafted input through the web UI. This grants the attacker the ability to run commands at root level on the device, potentially leading to full control of the affected system including configuration changes, data exfiltration, or persistence mechanisms.
The official Cisco Security Advisory cisco-sa-iosxe-webui-privesc-j22SaA4z details the affected versions and available software updates that address the vulnerability. The flaw is also listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, indicating that federal agencies and other organizations should prioritize patching according to the published timelines.
The EPSS score for this CVE currently stands at 0.9262 with a recorded peak of 0.9265, reflecting sustained high exploitation interest since disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-24452
Vulnerability Data
A vulnerability in the web UI feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to inject commands with the privileges of root. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability…
more
by sending crafted input to the web UI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to inject commands to the underlying operating system with root privileges.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 23 October 2023
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.2.5V1.2.8V15.2.5
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.
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's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.
Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).
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.
Security testing and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.