Root command execution via web UI input
Published Oct 24, 2023 · Updated Oct 21, 2025
Command injection in the web UI of Cisco IOS XE Software allows remote authenticated users to execute operating-system commands as root. The web UI passes crafted input to the underlying operating system without sufficient validation, allowing injected commands to run with root privileges. Exploitation requires the HTTP or HTTPS web UI to be enabled and an authenticated session; observed attacks used a separate flaw to create that account and then wrote an implant.
Summary
What happened
Command injection in the web UI of Cisco IOS XE Software allows remote authenticated users to execute operating-system commands as root. The web UI passes crafted input to the underlying operating system without sufficient validation, allowing injected commands to run with root privileges. Exploitation requires the HTTP or HTTPS web UI to be enabled and an authenticated session; observed attacks used a separate flaw to create that account and then wrote an implant.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-20273
- Published
- Oct 24, 2023
- Updated
- Oct 21, 2025
- Vendor
- ClamAV
- Product
- Cisco IOS XE Software
- Classifications
- CWE-78, T1059
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 24, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Oct 21, 2025Record 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=16.10.1
- Affected versionversion=16.10.1a
- Affected versionversion=16.10.1b
- Affected versionversion=16.10.1c
- Affected versionversion=16.10.1d
- Affected versionversion=16.10.1e
- Affected versionversion=16.10.1f
- Affected versionversion=16.10.1g
- Affected versionversion=16.10.1s
- Affected versionversion=16.10.2
- Affected versionversion=16.10.3
- Affected versionversion=16.1.1
- Affected versionversion=16.11.1
- Affected versionversion=16.11.1a
- Affected versionversion=16.11.1b
- Affected versionversion=16.11.1s
- Affected versionversion=16.11.2
- Affected versionversion=16.1.2
- Affected versionversion=16.12.1
- Affected versionversion=16.12.10
- Affected versionversion=16.12.1a
- Affected versionversion=16.12.1c
- Affected versionversion=16.12.1s
- Affected versionversion=16.12.1t
- Affected versionversion=16.12.1w
- Affected versionversion=16.12.1x
- Affected versionversion=16.12.1y
- Affected versionversion=16.12.1z1
- Affected versionversion=16.12.1z2
- Affected versionversion=16.12.2
- Affected versionversion=16.12.2a
- Affected versionversion=16.12.2s
- Affected versionversion=16.12.3
- Affected versionversion=16.12.3a
- Affected versionversion=16.12.3s
- Affected versionversion=16.12.4
- Affected versionversion=16.12.4a
- Affected versionversion=16.12.5
- Affected versionversion=16.12.5a
- Affected versionversion=16.12.5b
- Affected versionversion=16.12.6
- Affected versionversion=16.12.6a
- Affected versionversion=16.12.7
- Affected versionversion=16.12.8
- Affected versionversion=16.12.9
- Affected versionversion=16.1.3
- Affected versionversion=16.2.1
- Affected versionversion=16.2.2
- Affected versionversion=16.3.1
- Affected versionversion=16.3.10
- Affected versionversion=16.3.11
- Affected versionversion=16.3.1a
- Affected versionversion=16.3.2
- Affected versionversion=16.3.3
- Affected versionversion=16.3.4
- Affected versionversion=16.3.5
- Affected versionversion=16.3.5b
- Affected versionversion=16.3.6
- Affected versionversion=16.3.7
- Affected versionversion=16.3.8
- Affected versionversion=16.3.9
- Affected versionversion=16.4.1
- Affected versionversion=16.4.2
- Affected versionversion=16.4.3
- Affected versionversion=16.5.1
- Affected versionversion=16.5.1a
- Affected versionversion=16.5.1b
- Affected versionversion=16.5.2
- Affected versionversion=16.5.3
- Affected versionversion=16.6.1
- Affected versionversion=16.6.10
- Affected versionversion=16.6.2
- Affected versionversion=16.6.3
- Affected versionversion=16.6.4
- Affected versionversion=16.6.4a
- Affected versionversion=16.6.5
- Affected versionversion=16.6.5a
- Affected versionversion=16.6.6
- Affected versionversion=16.6.7
- Affected versionversion=16.6.8
- Affected versionversion=16.6.9
- Affected versionversion=16.7.1
- Affected versionversion=16.7.1a
- Affected versionversion=16.7.1b
- Affected versionversion=16.7.2
- Affected versionversion=16.7.3
- Affected versionversion=16.7.4
- Affected versionversion=16.8.1
- Affected versionversion=16.8.1a
- Affected versionversion=16.8.1b
- Affected versionversion=16.8.1c
- Affected versionversion=16.8.1d
- Affected versionversion=16.8.1e
- Affected versionversion=16.8.1s
- Affected versionversion=16.8.2
- Affected versionversion=16.8.3
- Affected versionversion=16.9.1
- Affected versionversion=16.9.1a
- Affected versionversion=16.9.1b
- Affected versionversion=16.9.1s
- Affected versionversion=16.9.2
- Affected versionversion=16.9.3
- Affected versionversion=16.9.3a
- Affected versionversion=16.9.4
- Affected versionversion=16.9.5
- Affected versionversion=16.9.5f
- Affected versionversion=16.9.6
- Affected versionversion=16.9.7
- Affected versionversion=16.9.8
- Affected versionversion=17.10.1
- Affected versionversion=17.10.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.10.1b
- Affected versionversion=17.1.1
- Affected versionversion=17.11.1
- Affected versionversion=17.11.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.11.99SW
- Affected versionversion=17.1.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.1.1s
- Affected versionversion=17.1.1t
- Affected versionversion=17.12.1
- Affected versionversion=17.12.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.1.3
- Affected versionversion=17.2.1
- Affected versionversion=17.2.1a
- Affected versionversion=17.2.1r
- Affected versionversion=17.2.1v
- Affected versionversion=17.2.2
- Affected versionversion=17.2.3
- 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=17.3.8
- 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=17.6.6
- 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
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.
Reported exploitation
- CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog listingknown exploited catalog
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
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