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Case File

CVE-2023-20082

MEDIUM · CVSS 6.1 EPSS 0.38% Public Exploit

Source: NVD + CISA KEV + EPSS (historical backfill) · Published 2023-03-23 · Last synced 2026-08-04

CyberRota Analysis

This is a medium severity vulnerability with a CVSS score of 6.1. It affects Cisco. Public exploit code or proof-of-concept references have been detected in its references. Exploitation may require the attacker to be authenticated.

Public Exploit Signal

A public exploit, PoC, GitHub repository or Metasploit reference was detected for this CVE.

Detected Signals
exploit

Note: these links are listed for security research and verification purposes only.

CVE
CVE-2023-20082
Severity
MEDIUM
CVSS
6.1
EPSS
0.38%
Cisco

Original NVD Description

A vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker with level-15 privileges or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to the device to execute persistent code at boot time and break the chain of trust. This vulnerability is due to errors that occur when retrieving the public release key that is used for image signature verification. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying specific variables in the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) flash memory of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute persistent code on the underlying operating system. Note: In Cisco IOS XE Software releases 16.11.1 and later, the complexity of an attack using this vulnerability is high. However, an attacker with level-15 privileges could easily downgrade the Cisco IOS XE Software on a device to a release that would lower the attack complexity.

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