Authenticated root access via privileged Docker containers
Published Oct 4, 2023 · Updated Feb 25, 2026
Privilege escalation in Cisco IOS XE Software allows remote authenticated users to gain root access through the Cisco IOx Docker API. The application-development workflow fails to reject Docker containers requested with the privileged runtime option, exposing the host operating system. Reachability requires an affected rugged router or switch with IOx configured, the nondefault workflow enabled, and valid high-privilege credentials.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Cisco IOS XE Software allows remote authenticated users to gain root access through the Cisco IOx Docker API. The application-development workflow fails to reject Docker containers requested with the privileged runtime option, exposing the host operating system. Reachability requires an affected rugged router or switch with IOx configured, the nondefault workflow enabled, and valid high-privilege credentials.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-20235
- Published
- Oct 4, 2023
- Updated
- Feb 25, 2026
- Vendor
- ClamAV
- Product
- Cisco IOS XE Software
- Classifications
- CWE-552, T1611
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 4, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 25, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=17.10.1
- Affected versionversion=17.10.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.10.1b
- Affected versionversion=17.11.1
- Affected versionversion=17.11.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.11.99SW
- Affected versionversion=17.12.1
- Affected versionversion=17.12.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.3.1
- Affected versionversion=17.3.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.3.1w
- Affected versionversion=17.3.1x
- Affected versionversion=17.3.1z
- Affected versionversion=17.3.2
- Affected versionversion=17.3.2a
- Affected versionversion=17.3.3
- Affected versionversion=17.3.4
- Affected versionversion=17.3.4a
- Affected versionversion=17.3.4b
- Affected versionversion=17.3.4c
- Affected versionversion=17.3.5
- Affected versionversion=17.3.5a
- Affected versionversion=17.3.5b
- Affected versionversion=17.3.6
- Affected versionversion=17.3.7
- Affected versionversion=17.4.1
- Affected versionversion=17.4.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.4.1b
- Affected versionversion=17.4.2
- Affected versionversion=17.4.2a
- Affected versionversion=17.5.1
- Affected versionversion=17.5.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.5.1b
- Affected versionversion=17.5.1c
- Affected versionversion=17.6.1
- Affected versionversion=17.6.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.6.1w
- Affected versionversion=17.6.1x
- Affected versionversion=17.6.1y
- Affected versionversion=17.6.1z
- Affected versionversion=17.6.1z1
- Affected versionversion=17.6.2
- Affected versionversion=17.6.3
- Affected versionversion=17.6.3a
- Affected versionversion=17.6.4
- Affected versionversion=17.6.5
- Affected versionversion=17.6.5a
- Affected versionversion=17.7.1
- Affected versionversion=17.7.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.7.1b
- Affected versionversion=17.7.2
- Affected versionversion=17.8.1
- Affected versionversion=17.8.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.9.1
- Affected versionversion=17.9.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.9.1w
- Affected versionversion=17.9.1x
- Affected versionversion=17.9.1x1
- Affected versionversion=17.9.1y
- Affected versionversion=17.9.1y1
- Affected versionversion=17.9.2
- Affected versionversion=17.9.2a
- Affected versionversion=17.9.3
- Affected versionversion=17.9.3a
- Affected versionversion=17.9.4
- Affected versionversion=17.9.4a
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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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