Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection Vulnerability (CVE-2023-20273)
Severity: high · Patch status: unknown · Since 2023-10-23 · CVE-2023-20273
Cisco IOS XE contains a command injection vulnerability in the web user interface. When chained with CVE-2023-20198, the attacker can leverage the new local user to elevate privilege to root and write the implant to the file system. Cisco identified CVE-2023-20273 as the vulnerability exploited to deploy the implant. CVE-2021-1435, previously associated with the exploitation events, is no longer believed to be related to this activity. CISA added CVE-2023-20273 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Oct 23, 2023, which means attackers are exploiting it in the wild.
What to do
- Verify that instances of Cisco IOS XE Web UI are in compliance with BOD 23-02 and apply mitigations per vendor instructions. For affected products (Cisco IOS XE Web UI exposed to the internet or to untrusted networks), follow vendor instructions to determine if a system may have been compromised and immediately report positive findings to CISA.
- US federal agencies must remediate by Oct 27, 2023 (BOD 22-01); treat that as the outer limit.
Sources
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