Vulnerability Intelligence Report
Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
CVE-2023-20198
Cisco is providing an update for the ongoing investigation into observed exploitation of the web UI feature in Cisco IOS XE Software. We are updating the list of fixed releases and adding the Software Checker. Our investigation has determined that the actors exploited two previously unknown issues. The attacker first exploited CVE-2023-20198 to gain initial access and issued a privilege 15 command to create a local user and password combination. This allowed the user to log in with normal user access. The attacker then exploited another component of the web UI feature, leveraging the new local user to elevate privilege to root and write the implant to the file system. Cisco has assigned CVE-2023-20273 to this issue. CVE-2023-20198 has been assigned a CVSS Score of 10.0. CVE-2023-20273 has been assigned a CVSS Score of 7.2. Both of these CVEs are being tracked by CSCwh87343.
CISA KEV
Nuclei Template
SSVC: Active Exploitation
Automatable
CVSS Base Score
10.0
CRITICAL
Exploitability:3.9
Impact Score:6.1
EPSS Probability:99.57%
Executive Threat Verdict
Evaluating...
Evaluating Threat Landscape...
Assessing known weaponization, exploitation telemetry, and federal advisories.
Attack Surface
—
Authentication
—
Weaponization
—
SSVC Action
—
Weaknesses (CWE)
CWE-420 ↗Unprotected Alternate Channel
Affected Products & Versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco | Cisco IOS XE Software | 16.1.1 (affected), 16.1.2 (affected), 16.1.3 (affected), 16.2.1 (affected), 16.2.2 (affected), 16.3.1 (affected), 16.3.2 (affected), 16.3.3 (affected), 16.3.1a (affected), 16.3.4 (affected), 16.3.5 (affected), 16.3.5b (affected), 16.3.6 (affected), 16.3.7 (affected), 16.3.8 (affected), 16.3.9 (affected), 16.3.10 (affected), 16.3.11 (affected), 16.4.1 (affected), 16.4.2 (affected), 16.4.3 (affected), 16.5.1 (affected), 16.5.1a (affected), 16.5.1b (affected), 16.5.2 (affected), 16.5.3 (affected), 16.6.1 (affected), 16.6.2 (affected), 16.6.3 (affected), 16.6.4 (affected), 16.6.5 (affected), 16.6.4a (affected), 16.6.5a (affected), 16.6.6 (affected), 16.6.7 (affected), 16.6.8 (affected), 16.6.9 (affected), 16.6.10 (affected), 16.7.1 (affected), 16.7.1a (affected), 16.7.1b (affected), 16.7.2 (affected), 16.7.3 (affected), 16.7.4 (affected), 16.8.1 (affected), 16.8.1a (affected), 16.8.1b (affected), 16.8.1s (affected), 16.8.1c (affected), 16.8.1d (affected), 16.8.2 (affected), 16.8.1e (affected), 16.8.3 (affected), 16.9.1 (affected), 16.9.2 (affected), 16.9.1a (affected), 16.9.1b (affected), 16.9.1s (affected), 16.9.3 (affected), 16.9.4 (affected), 16.9.3a (affected), 16.9.5 (affected), 16.9.5f (affected), 16.9.6 (affected), 16.9.7 (affected), 16.9.8 (affected), 16.10.1 (affected), 16.10.1a (affected), 16.10.1b (affected), 16.10.1s (affected), 16.10.1c (affected), 16.10.1e (affected), 16.10.1d (affected), 16.10.2 (affected), 16.10.1f (affected), 16.10.1g (affected), 16.10.3 (affected), 16.11.1 (affected), 16.11.1a (affected), 16.11.1b (affected), 16.11.2 (affected), 16.11.1s (affected), 16.12.1 (affected), 16.12.1s (affected), 16.12.1a (affected), 16.12.1c (affected), 16.12.1w (affected), 16.12.2 (affected), 16.12.1y (affected), 16.12.2a (affected), 16.12.3 (affected), 16.12.8 (affected), 16.12.2s (affected), 16.12.1x (affected), 16.12.1t (affected), 16.12.4 (affected), 16.12.3s (affected), 16.12.3a (affected), 16.12.4a (affected), 16.12.5 (affected), 16.12.6 (affected), 16.12.1z1 (affected), 16.12.5a (affected), 16.12.5b (affected), 16.12.1z2 (affected), 16.12.6a (affected), 16.12.7 (affected), 16.12.9 (affected), 16.12.10 (affected), 17.1.1 (affected), 17.1.1a (affected), 17.1.1s (affected), 17.1.1t (affected), 17.1.3 (affected), 17.2.1 (affected), 17.2.1r (affected), 17.2.1a (affected), 17.2.1v (affected), 17.2.2 (affected), 17.2.3 (affected), 17.3.1 (affected), 17.3.2 (affected), 17.3.3 (affected), 17.3.1a (affected), 17.3.1w (affected), 17.3.2a (affected), 17.3.1x (affected), 17.3.1z (affected), 17.3.4 (affected), 17.3.5 (affected), 17.3.4a (affected), 17.3.6 (affected), 17.3.4b (affected), 17.3.4c (affected), 17.3.5a (affected), 17.3.5b (affected), 17.3.7 (affected), 17.3.8 (affected), 17.4.1 (affected), 17.4.2 (affected), 17.4.1a (affected), 17.4.1b (affected), 17.4.2a (affected), 17.5.1 (affected), 17.5.1a (affected), 17.5.1b (affected), 17.5.1c (affected), 17.6.1 (affected), 17.6.2 (affected), 17.6.1w (affected), 17.6.1a (affected), 17.6.1x (affected), 17.6.3 (affected), 17.6.1y (affected), 17.6.1z (affected), 17.6.3a (affected), 17.6.4 (affected), 17.6.1z1 (affected), 17.6.5 (affected), 17.6.6 (affected), 17.7.1 (affected), 17.7.1a (affected), 17.7.1b (affected), 17.7.2 (affected), 17.10.1 (affected), 17.10.1a (affected), 17.10.1b (affected), 17.8.1 (affected), 17.8.1a (affected), 17.9.1 (affected), 17.9.1w (affected), 17.9.2 (affected), 17.9.1a (affected), 17.9.1x (affected), 17.9.1y (affected), 17.9.3 (affected), 17.9.2a (affected), 17.9.1x1 (affected), 17.9.3a (affected), 17.9.4 (affected), 17.9.1y1 (affected), 17.11.1 (affected), 17.11.1a (affected), 17.12.1 (affected), 17.12.1a (affected), 17.11.99SW (affected) |
References & Technical Advisories
No reference links found.
Threat Intelligence Signals
CISA KEV
ACTIVE IN CATALOG
Nuclei Template
SCANNER AVAILABLE
EPSS Score
99.571%
GitHub Advisory
Identity & Timeline
| Status | PUBLISHED |
| Assigning Authority | Cisco Systems, Inc. · Hosted Service · USA |
| Reserved | 2022-10-27T18:47:50 |
| Published | 2023-10-16T15:12:58 |
| Last Updated | 2025-10-21T23:05:34 |
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