CyberRota Analysis
This is a critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS score of 10.0. It affects Cisco. It is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, indicating confirmed active exploitation in the wild. Public exploit code or proof-of-concept references have been detected in its references. Its EPSS score suggests a 99.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
Public Exploit Signal
A public exploit, PoC, GitHub repository or Metasploit reference was detected for this CVE.
Note: these links are listed for security research and verification purposes only.
CISA KEV Details
Status: This CVE is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
Ransomware use: Unknown
Added to KEV: 2023-10-16
Required action: 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.
Original NVD Description
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.
Related CVEs
Other vulnerabilities affecting the same vendor(s)