VulnerabilityPublished 1 Nov 2023Updated 16 Dec 2025

CVE-2023-20048: Cisco Firepower Management Center · Improper Privilege Management

Affects Cisco Firepower Management CenterSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · 15% EPSS · CVSS 9.9 Critical.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

9.9Critical

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 15.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 96% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: Low
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 1 Nov 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Cisco Cisco Firepower Management Center	Affected 6.2.3 – 7.3.1.1 72 affected builds	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Immediately verify and enforce strong credential management policies for FMC accounts, including multi-factor authentication (MFA) where possible, to reduce the risk of credential compromise.
Restrict access to the FMC web services interface to trusted networks and administrators only, using network segmentation and firewall rules to limit exposure.
Monitor FMC logs and network traffic for unusual or unauthorized configuration commands or access patterns indicative of exploitation attempts.
Apply Cisco's security advisories and patches as soon as they become available; regularly check Cisco's official security portal for updates related to CVE-2023-20048.
Conduct regular audits of FMC user privileges to ensure least privilege principles are enforced, removing unnecessary administrative rights.
Implement strict change management and configuration backup procedures to quickly detect and recover from unauthorized changes.
Consider deploying additional intrusion detection/prevention systems to monitor for exploitation attempts targeting FMC interfaces.
Educate administrators on the risks of credential phishing and social engineering attacks that could lead to credential theft.
If patching is delayed, consider temporary compensating controls such as disabling web services interfaces not in use or isolating FMC management networks.
Engage with Cisco support for guidance and assistance in remediation and incident response planning related to this vulnerability.

Description

CVE-2023-20048 is a critical vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Management Center (FMC) that allows an authenticated remote attacker with valid credentials to execute unauthorized configuration commands on managed Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) devices. The flaw arises from insufficient authorization checks in the FMC web services interface, enabling privilege escalation within the network defense infrastructure. Exploitation requires no user interaction but does require valid FMC credentials. The vulnerability impacts a wide range of FMC versions from 6.2.3 through 7.3.1.1. Successful exploitation could compromise confidentiality and availability by allowing attackers to alter device configurations, potentially disrupting network security controls.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to network security infrastructure. Cisco FMC and FTD devices are widely deployed in enterprise and government networks across Europe for threat defense and firewall management. Exploitation could allow attackers to alter firewall rules, disable protections, or exfiltrate sensitive network configuration data, leading to potential data breaches, service disruptions, or lateral movement within networks. Critical infrastructure operators, financial institutions, and public sector entities relying on Cisco FMC for centralized security management are particularly at risk. The ability to execute unauthorized commands could undermine trust in network defenses and cause cascading failures in security posture. Given the vulnerability requires valid credentials, compromised or weak credential management practices increase risk. The high severity and broad version impact mean many organizations may be vulnerable if patches are not applied promptly. The potential availability impact could disrupt business operations and critical services, while confidentiality breaches could expose sensitive data subject to GDPR and other regulatory protections, leading to compliance and reputational damage.

References

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-fmc-cmd-inj-29MP49hN (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 23 Dec 2025, 18:21 UTC

Technical details

References

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