CVE-2023-20164

Root privilege escalation via crafted CLI commands

Published May 18, 2023 · Updated Oct 28, 2024

OS command injection in Cisco Identity Services Engine 3.2 before 3.2P2 allows local users to elevate privileges to root. Specific CLI commands insufficiently validate user-supplied input before passing it to the underlying operating system, so a crafted command crosses the appliance command boundary. Administrator privileges and local CLI access are required; successful exploitation grants root control without a reported availability impact.

CVSS severity6.0
Medium
EPSS probability1.19%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

OS command injection in Cisco Identity Services Engine 3.2 before 3.2P2 allows local users to elevate privileges to root. Specific CLI commands insufficiently validate user-supplied input before passing it to the underlying operating system, so a crafted command crosses the appliance command boundary. Administrator privileges and local CLI access are required; successful exploitation grants root control without a reported availability impact.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-20164
Published
May 18, 2023
Updated
Oct 28, 2024
Vendor
ClamAV
Product
Cisco Identity Services Engine
Classifications
CWE-78, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 18, 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?

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  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

6.0Cisco Systems, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
7.2NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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

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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