Security Resilience

CVE-2023-22913

RCE in Zyxel Usg Flex 100 Firmware 4.50 – 5.35

Published
24 April 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.013 70th percentile
Risk Priority 62 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-2023-22913 is a high-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Zyxel Usg Flex 100 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 30% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A post-authentication command injection vulnerability in the “account_operator.cgi” CGI program of Zyxel USG FLEX series firmware versions 4.50 through 5.35, and VPN series firmware versions 4.30 through 5.35, which could allow a remote authenticated attacker to modify device configuration data,…

more

resulting in denial-of-service (DoS) conditions on an affected device.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-22914Same product: Zyxel Usg Flex 100
CVE-2023-22915Same product: Zyxel Usg Flex 100
CVE-2023-22917Same product: Zyxel Usg Flex 100
CVE-2023-22916Same product: Zyxel Usg Flex 100
CVE-2023-28771Same product: Zyxel Usg Flex 100
CVE-2023-27991Same product: Zyxel Usg Flex 100
CVE-2023-27990Same product: Zyxel Usg Flex 100
CVE-2022-30525Same product: Zyxel Usg Flex 100W
CVE-2023-33010Same product: Zyxel Usg Flex 100
CVE-2023-5960Same product: Zyxel Usg Flex 100

Affected Assets

zyxel
usg flex 100 firmware
4.50 — 5.35
zyxel
usg flex 100w firmware
4.50 — 5.35
zyxel
usg flex 200 firmware
4.50 — 5.35
zyxel
usg flex 50 firmware
4.50 — 5.35
zyxel
usg flex 50w firmware
4.50 — 5.35
zyxel
usg flex 500 firmware
4.50 — 5.35
zyxel
usg flex 700 firmware
4.50 — 5.35
zyxel
vpn100 firmware
4.50 — 5.35
zyxel
vpn1000 firmware
4.50 — 5.35
zyxel
vpn300 firmware
4.50 — 5.35
+1 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

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.8.25 mandates secure SDLC practices including secure coding guidelines, security requirements, checkpoints, testing (scans/penetration), and developer training that reduce command injection defects, but leaves a minority slice (e.g. incomplete implementation of those practices, outsourced development without full assurance, or post-SDLC changes) where the weakness can still arise and be exploitable.

blocks

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (e.g. distrust external input, secure session control, data validation/sanitization, least privilege) and design reviews that can stop command injection from being introduced, but this is only a minority slice of CWE-77 because the weakness can still arise in code that bypasses those principles, in non-reviewed components, or in runtime injection vectors the architecture review does not reach.

prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

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-77, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.

References