CVE-2023-20198

Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Severity Score

10.0

*CVSS v3.1

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

Yes

*KEV

Decision

Act

*SSVC

Descriptions

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.

Cisco tiene conocimiento de la explotación activa de una vulnerabilidad previamente desconocida en la función de interfaz de usuario web del software Cisco IOS XE cuando se expone a Internet o a redes que no son de confianza. Esta vulnerabilidad permite a un atacante remoto no autenticado crear una cuenta en un sistema afectado con acceso de nivel de privilegio 15. Luego, el atacante puede usar esa cuenta para hacerse con el control del sistema afectado. Para conocer los pasos para cerrar el vector de ataque de esta vulnerabilidad, consulte la sección Recomendaciones de este aviso. Cisco proporcionará actualizaciones sobre el estado de esta investigación y cuándo estará disponible un parche de software.

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.

*Credits: N/A

CVSS Scores

NISTv3.1 10.0

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

* Common Vulnerability Scoring System

SSVC

Decision:Act

Exploitation

Active

Automatable

Yes

Tech. Impact

Total

* Organization's Worst-case Scenario

Timeline

2022-10-27 CVE Reserved
2023-10-16 CVE Published
2023-10-16 Exploited in Wild
2023-10-17 First Exploit
2023-10-20 KEV Due Date
2024-10-23 CVE Updated
2024-11-17 EPSS Updated

CWE

CWE-420: Unprotected Alternate Channel

CAPEC

References (27)

URL	Tag	Source
https://blog.talosintelligence.com/active-exploitation-of-cisco-ios-xe-software
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxe-webui-privesc-j22SaA4z/cvrf/cisco-sa-iosxe-webui-privesc-j22SaA4z_cvrf.xml
https://www.horizon3.ai/cisco-ios-xe-cve-2023-20198-theory-crafting
https://www.horizon3.ai/cisco-ios-xe-cve-2023-20198-deep-dive-and-poc

URL	Date	SRC
https://github.com/smokeintheshell/CVE-2023-20198	2023-12-07
https://github.com/RevoltSecurities/CVE-2023-20198	2023-11-03
https://github.com/Atea-Redteam/CVE-2023-20198	2023-10-23
https://github.com/ZephrFish/CVE-2023-20198-Checker	2023-10-23
https://github.com/W01fh4cker/CVE-2023-20198-RCE	2024-04-25
https://github.com/Tounsi007/CVE-2023-20198	2023-10-17
https://github.com/Shadow0ps/CVE-2023-20198-Scanner	2023-10-24
https://github.com/Pushkarup/CVE-2023-20198	2023-10-23
https://github.com/sohaibeb/CVE-2023-20198	2023-10-21
https://github.com/securityphoenix/cisco-CVE-2023-20198-tester	2023-10-17
https://github.com/emomeni/Simple-Ansible-for-CVE-2023-20198	2023-10-17
https://github.com/mr-r3b00t/CVE-2023-20198-IOS-XE-Scanner	2023-10-25
https://github.com/ohlawd/CVE-2023-20198	2023-10-25
https://github.com/IceBreakerCode/CVE-2023-20198	2023-10-25
https://github.com/JoyGhoshs/CVE-2023-20198	2023-10-18
https://github.com/kacem-expereo/CVE-2023-20198	2023-10-24
https://github.com/raystr-atearedteam/CVE-2023-20198-checker	2023-10-17
https://github.com/netbell/CVE-2023-20198-Fix	2023-12-09
https://github.com/Codeb3af/CVE-2023-20198-RCE	2024-04-28
https://github.com/codeb0ss/CVE-2023-20198-PoC	2023-12-13
https://github.com/sanan2004/CVE-2023-20198	2024-08-26
https://github.com/AhmedMansour93/Event-ID-193-Rule-Name-SOC231-Cisco-IOS-XE-Web-UI-ZeroDay-CVE-2023-20198-	2024-09-13

URL	Date	SRC

URL	Date	SRC
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxe-webui-privesc-j22SaA4z	2023-10-16

Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions

Vendor		Product				Version		Other		Status
Vendor	Product	Version	Other	Status	<-- -->	Vendor	Product	Version	Other	Status
Cisco Search vendor "Cisco"		Ios Xe Search vendor "Cisco" for product "Ios Xe"				>= 16.12 < 16.12.10a Search vendor "Cisco" for product "Ios Xe" and version " >= 16.12 < 16.12.10a"		-		Affected
Cisco Search vendor "Cisco"		Ios Xe Search vendor "Cisco" for product "Ios Xe"				>= 17.3 < 17.3.8a Search vendor "Cisco" for product "Ios Xe" and version " >= 17.3 < 17.3.8a"		-		Affected
Cisco Search vendor "Cisco"		Ios Xe Search vendor "Cisco" for product "Ios Xe"				>= 17.6 < 17.6.6a Search vendor "Cisco" for product "Ios Xe" and version " >= 17.6 < 17.6.6a"		-		Affected
Cisco Search vendor "Cisco"		Ios Xe Search vendor "Cisco" for product "Ios Xe"				>= 17.9 < 17.9.4a Search vendor "Cisco" for product "Ios Xe" and version " >= 17.9 < 17.9.4a"		-		Affected