CVE-2023-20198Cisco is providing an update for the ongoing investigation into observed exploitation of the web UI feature in Cisco IOS XE Software.
Updated under an hour ago ()
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It affects Cisco IOS XE Software and 3 other products. Add what you run to find out whether that includes you.
CISA lists it as known exploited since Oct 16, 2023; federal agencies had to remediate by Oct 20, 2023. Treat that date as your deadline.
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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.
- CVSS
- 10.0 CRITICAL (v3.1, CNA)CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Weakness (CWE)
- CWE-420
- Known exploited
- Added to CISA KEV Oct 16, 2023; federal remediation due Oct 20, 2023Verify 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.
- EPSS (exploitation in the next 30 days)
- 99.61% (percentile 100)
- Assigned by
- cisco
- NVD analysis
- Analyzed
- Record last updated
- Oct 21, 2025
- First seen by InfoSec Signals
- Oct 9, 2026
Affected products
Cisco Cisco IOS XE Software cisco:ios_xe_software (from the name) | 16.1.1; 16.1.2; 16.1.3; 16.2.1; 16.2.2; 16.3.1; 16.3.2; 16.3.3; and 178 more ranges | CNA record |
rockwellautomation allen-bradley_stratix_5200_firmware rockwellautomation:allen-bradley_stratix_5200_firmware | before 17.12.02 | NVD |
rockwellautomation allen-bradley_stratix_5800_firmware rockwellautomation:allen-bradley_stratix_5800_firmware | before 17.12.02 | NVD |
cisco ios_xe cisco:ios_xe | from 16.12 before 16.12.10a; from 17.3 before 17.3.8a; from 17.6 before 17.6.6a; from 17.9 before 17.9.4a | NVD |
References
- https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxe-webui-privesc-j22SaA4zmitigation, vendor-advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-20198us-government-resource
The CVE record on cve.org NVD's entry
The CVE record is authoritative. Products marked “from the name” were identified from the CNA's free-text names, not a CPE, and are matched less certainly. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.