CVE-2023-20021

Root privilege escalation via crafted CLI commands

Published Apr 5, 2023 · Updated Oct 28, 2024

Command injection in Cisco Identity Services Engine 3.2 allows local users with Administrator privileges to gain root via crafted CLI commands. Specific CLI commands fail to validate user-supplied input before it reaches the underlying operating system, allowing injected commands to run as root. Cisco has not disclosed the affected command names or validation paths; exploitation requires a valid Administrator account, and no availability impact is reported.

CVSS severity6.0
Medium
EPSS probability0.45%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Command injection in Cisco Identity Services Engine 3.2 allows local users with Administrator privileges to gain root via crafted CLI commands. Specific CLI commands fail to validate user-supplied input before it reaches the underlying operating system, allowing injected commands to run as root. Cisco has not disclosed the affected command names or validation paths; exploitation requires a valid Administrator account, and no availability impact is reported.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-20021
Published
Apr 5, 2023
Updated
Oct 28, 2024
Vendor
ClamAV
Product
Cisco Identity Services Engine
Classifications
CWE-78, T1068, T1059
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 5, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 28, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=n/a

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

ClamAV · Cisco Identity Services Engineversion=n/a

Published CVSS scores

6.0CiscoCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N/E:X/RL:X/RC:X

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-78Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation
T1059Command and Scripting Interpreter

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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