{"id":"CVE-2023-20198","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2023-20198"],"related":[],"title":"Cisco is providing an update for the ongoing investigation into observed exploitation of the web UI feature in Cisco…","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.","summary":"Cisco IOS XE's Web UI has a privilege escalation flaw that lets a remote attacker with no login create an account at privilege level 15. That account gives full control of the network device.","severity":"critical","cvss":10.0,"epss":null,"exploited":true,"exploited_at":"2023-10-16T00:00:00+00:00","products":[{"name":"Cisco IOS XE Web UI","fixed":[],"affected":"","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"rockwellautomation allen-bradley stratix 5200 firmware","fixed":["17.12.02"],"affected":"< 17.12.02","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"rockwellautomation allen-bradley stratix 5800 firmware","fixed":["17.12.02"],"affected":"< 17.12.02","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"cisco ios xe","fixed":["16.12.10a"],"affected":">= 16.12, < 16.12.10a","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"cisco ios xe","fixed":["17.3.8a"],"affected":">= 17.3, < 17.3.8a","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"cisco ios xe","fixed":["17.6.6a"],"affected":">= 17.6, < 17.6.6a","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"cisco ios xe","fixed":["17.9.4a"],"affected":">= 17.9, < 17.9.4a","ecosystem":"vendor"}],"ecosystems":["vendor"],"tags":["cisco","exploited","infrastructure","ios-xe","network-devices","self-hosted"],"not_affected_if":["not-internet-exposed","web-ui-disabled"],"how_to_check":null,"fix":"Follow Cisco's vendor instructions for CVE-2023-20198 and apply the mitigations and patches they list; CISA BOD 23-02 applies to federal agencies.\nIf the Web UI is exposed to the internet or untrusted networks, check for unexpected accounts and report positive findings to CISA.","status":"open","published_at":"2023-10-16T00:00:00+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:51+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-23T21:04:24+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:04+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.8,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-23T21:04:24Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"Follow Cisco's vendor instructions for CVE-2023-20198 and apply the mitigations and patches they list; CISA BOD 23-02 applies to federal agencies.\nIf the Web UI is exposed to the internet or untrusted networks, check for unexpected accounts and report positive findings to CISA.","reach":"internet","impact":"high","summary":"Cisco IOS XE's Web UI has a privilege escalation flaw that lets a remote attacker with no login create an account at privilege level 15. That account gives full control of the network device.","category":"infrastructure","who_cares":["cisco","ios-xe","network-devices","self-hosted"],"confidence":0.8,"needs_auth":"no","worst_case":"Attacker creates a privilege-15 account and takes full control of the device","analyst_note":"Sources do not list affected or fixed versions or detection steps; pull Cisco's security advisory for CVE-2023-20198 to fill how_to_check and fix.","how_to_check":"unknown","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["web-ui-disabled","not-internet-exposed"],"user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"yes","severity_if_unknown":"critical"},"cost_usd":0.000504,"input_tokens":2940,"output_tokens":420,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-20198':22A,25A,157C,227C '-2023':21A,24A,156C,220C,226C,237C '-20273':221C,238C '10.0':235C '15':94B,166C '5200':36A '5800':43A '7.2':246C 'access':161C,186C 'account':90B,96B 'actor':145C 'add':135C 'allen':33A,40A 'allen-bradley':32A,39A 'allow':177C 'anoth':191C 'assign':218C,230C,241C 'attack':84B,152C,188C 'bradley':34A,41A 'checker':138C 'cisco':1A,19A,26A,45A,48A,51A,54A,57B,69B,104C,122C,216C 'combin':175C 'command':167C 'compon':192C 'control':99B 'creat':88B,169C 'cscwh87343':255C 'cve':20A,23A,155C,219C,225C,236C 'cves':250C 'cvss':232C,243C 'determin':142C 'devic':65B,103B 'elev':204C 'escal':78B 'exploit':12A,58B,115C,146C,154C,190C 'featur':17A,120C,197C 'file':214C 'firmware':37A,44A 'first':153C 'fix':132C 'flaw':79B 'full':98B 'gain':159C 'give':97B 'host':68B 'implant':211C 'infrastructur':59B 'initi':160C 'investig':9A,112C,140C 'io':61B,70B,123C 'ios':27A,46A,49A,52A,55A 'ios-x':60B 'issu':150C,163C,224C 'let':81B 'level':93B 'leverag':198C 'list':130C 'local':171C,201C 'log':181C 'login':87B 'network':64B,102B 'network-devic':63B 'new':200C 'normal':184C 'observ':11A,114C 'ongo':8A,111C 'password':174C 'previous':148C 'privileg':77B,92B,165C,205C 'provid':3A,106C 'releas':133C 'remot':83B 'rockwellautomation':31A,38A 'root':207C 'score':233C,244C 'self':67B 'self-host':66B 'softwar':125C,137C 'stratix':35A,42A 'system':215C 'track':253C 'two':147C 'ui':16A,30A,74B,119C,196C 'unknown':149C 'updat':5A,108C,128C 'user':172C,179C,185C,202C 'web':15A,29A,73B,118C,195C 'write':209C 'xe':28A,47A,50A,53A,56A,62B,71B,124C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":null,"tier":null,"verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2023-10-16T00:00:00+00:00","kev":{"dateAdded":"2023-10-16","dueDate":"2023-10-20","requiredAction":"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.","knownRansomwareCampaignUse":"Unknown"},"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvss_by":"psirt@cisco.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"kev","external_id":"CVE-2023-20198","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2023-20198","severity":null,"published_at":"2023-10-16T00:00:00+00:00","modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:51+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-25T11:39:15+00:00","note":null},{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2023-20198","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20198","severity":null,"published_at":"2023-10-16T16:15:10+00:00","modified_at":"2026-06-17T05:29:47+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:04+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:04+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}