CVE-2023-20170VulnerabilityPublished 1 Nov 2023Updated 16 Dec 2025

CVE-2023-20170: Cisco Identity Services Engine Software · Command Injection

Affects Cisco Identity Services Engine SoftwareSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.0 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.0Medium

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 39% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: None

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

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
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: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

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 2026-10-26.

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 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

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2023-20170, European organizations should prioritize the following actions: 1) Apply any available Cisco patches or updates addressing this vulnerability as soon as they are released. 2) Restrict administrative access to Cisco ISE devices strictly to trusted personnel and secure the authentication mechanisms, including enforcing strong multi-factor authentication for admin accounts. 3) Monitor and audit CLI command usage on Cisco ISE devices to detect anomalous or unauthorized commands that could indicate exploitation attempts. 4) Implement network segmentation and least privilege principles to limit the impact of a compromised Cisco ISE device. 5) Employ input validation and command filtering where possible to reduce the risk of command injection. 6) Maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans tailored to Cisco ISE compromise scenarios. 7) Regularly review and update security policies governing privileged access and device management. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on administrative access controls, monitoring, and proactive patch management specific to Cisco ISE environments.

Description

CVE-2023-20170 is a command injection vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) software that allows an authenticated local attacker with Administrator privileges to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying OS and escalate privileges to root. Exploitation requires valid admin credentials and involves submitting a crafted CLI command due to insufficient input validation. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 6.0, indicating medium severity, with high impact on confidentiality and integrity but no impact on availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild. European organizations using Cisco ISE for network access control and policy enforcement could face risks if attackers gain admin access. Mitigation requires Cisco patches or strict administrative access controls and input validation. Countries with significant Cisco ISE deployments and critical infrastructure relying on network access control are most at risk.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2023-20170 can be substantial, especially for those deploying Cisco ISE as a core component of their network access control and security policy enforcement infrastructure. An attacker who gains Administrator-level access could leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges to root, potentially gaining full control over the device. This could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive network segments, manipulation or bypassing of access policies, and exposure of confidential information. The integrity of network security policies could be compromised, enabling lateral movement within the network or persistent backdoors. While the vulnerability does not directly impact availability, the resulting compromise could facilitate further attacks that degrade network operations. Given the critical role of Cisco ISE in many European enterprises, government agencies, and critical infrastructure sectors, exploitation could have cascading effects on organizational security posture and compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR.

References

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-injection-QeXegrCw (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 23 Dec 2025, 18:22 UTC

Technical details

References

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