CVE-2023-20048 is a critical improper privilege management vulnerability affecting Cisco Firepower Management Center (FMC) software. The vulnerability exists in the web services interface of FMC, which manages Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) devices. Due to insufficient authorization validation of configuration commands sent via the web services interface, an authenticated remote attacker with valid FMC credentials can send crafted HTTP requests to execute unauthorized configuration commands on managed FTD devices. This flaw effectively allows privilege escalation within the network security management infrastructure, potentially enabling attackers to alter firewall rules, disable protections, or disrupt network traffic flow. The vulnerability affects a broad range of FMC versions, including all releases from 6.2.3 up to 7.3.1.1, indicating a long-standing issue across multiple major releases. Exploitation does not require user interaction but does require valid credentials, which could be obtained through credential theft, phishing, or insider threat. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 9.9, reflecting the vulnerability’s critical impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, with network attack vector, low attack complexity, and privileges required but no user interaction. Although no known exploits have been reported in the wild yet, the severity and scope of affected versions make this a high-priority vulnerability for organizations deploying Cisco FMC and FTD devices. The vulnerability could allow attackers to undermine network defenses, leading to potential data breaches, service disruption, or lateral movement within enterprise networks.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2023-20048 is significant due to the widespread use of Cisco Firepower Management Center and Firepower Threat Defense devices in enterprise and critical infrastructure networks. Successful exploitation can lead to unauthorized changes in firewall and security policies, potentially disabling protections or creating backdoors for further attacks. This can result in data breaches, disruption of network availability, and compromise of sensitive information protected under regulations such as GDPR. The ability to execute configuration commands remotely with valid credentials increases the risk of insider threats or attackers leveraging stolen credentials. Critical sectors such as finance, telecommunications, energy, and government agencies relying on Cisco FMC for centralized security management are particularly at risk. The vulnerability could also facilitate advanced persistent threats (APTs) by allowing attackers to maintain persistence and evade detection through manipulated security configurations. Given the critical nature of network security devices, the overall impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high, potentially affecting business continuity and regulatory compliance.

To mitigate CVE-2023-20048, European organizations should immediately verify if their Cisco FMC deployments are running affected versions and prioritize upgrading to patched versions once Cisco releases them. Until patches are available, organizations should enforce strict access controls and multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all FMC user accounts to reduce the risk of credential compromise. Regularly audit and monitor FMC user activities and logs for suspicious or unauthorized configuration changes. Implement network segmentation to limit access to FMC management interfaces only to trusted administrative hosts and networks. Employ strong password policies and credential vaulting to protect FMC credentials. Consider deploying intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) to detect anomalous HTTP requests targeting FMC web services. Additionally, conduct thorough reviews of existing firewall and security policies to identify and remediate any unauthorized changes. Organizations should also prepare incident response plans specifically addressing potential misuse of FMC credentials and configuration manipulation. Finally, maintain up-to-date threat intelligence feeds to monitor for any emerging exploit attempts targeting this vulnerability.