Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (CVE-2023-20198)
Severity: critical · Patch status: unknown · Since 2023-10-16 · CVE-2023-20198
Cisco IOS XE Web UI contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the web user interface that could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to create an account with privilege level 15 access. The attacker can then use that account to gain control of the affected device. CISA added CVE-2023-20198 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Oct 16, 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 20, 2023 (BOD 22-01); treat that as the outer limit.
Sources
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