# CVE-2023-20198: Cisco - Authentication Bypass

> Live exploitation tracking for CVE-2023-20198 by the CrowdSec Live Exploit Tracker, built from real-world attack data crowdsourced from CrowdSec's global network.

Page: https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2023-20198

## Key facts

- **Exploitation phase:** Limited Exploitation. The vulnerability is known but shows very limited attacker interest or exploitation activity.
- **CVSS score:** 10.0
- **Public exploit available:** Yes
- **Affected products:** Cisco IOS XE Software
- **Weaknesses:** CWE-420 (Unprotected Alternate Channel)

## Description

Cisco is providing an update for the ongoing investigation into observed exploitation of the web UI feature in Cisco IOS XE Software. We are updating the list of fixed releases and adding the Software Checker. Our investigation has determined that the actors exploited two previously unknown issues. The attacker first exploited CVE-2023-20198 to gain initial access and issued a privilege 15 command to create a local user and password combination. This allowed the user to log in with normal user access. The attacker then exploited another component of the web UI feature, leveraging the new local user to elevate privilege to root and write the implant to the file system. Cisco has assigned CVE-2023-20273 to this issue. CVE-2023-20198 has been assigned a CVSS Score of 10.0. CVE-2023-20273 has been assigned a CVSS Score of 7.2. Both of these CVEs are being tracked by CSCwh87343.

## CrowdSec analysis

[CVE-2023-20198](https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20198) is a critical vulnerability in the web UI feature of Cisco IOS XE Software that allows remote attackers to gain initial access by creating a local user with administrative privileges.

CrowdSec has been tracking this vulnerability and its exploits since 15th of December 2023.

Data from the CrowdSec community indicates that exploitation of CVE-2023-20198 is highly selective and intelligence-driven. Threat actors use advanced reconnaissance and carefully choose their targets, often as part of sophisticated campaigns or advanced persistent threat operations.
Telemetry from the CrowdSec network also shows that exploitation activity for CVE-2023-20198 remains steady week-over-week. Attack volumes are consistent with long-term trends, indicating sustained interest from threat actors. CVE-2023-20198 continues to be an active part of the threat landscape and will likely remain this way for the forseeable future.

Observed exploitation attempts typically involve requests to the web UI endpoints of Cisco IOS XE devices.

## Timeline

- 2023-10-16: CVE Published. CVE-2023-20198 is published to NVD.
- 2023-10-16: CISA KEV. CVE-2023-20198 is added to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog by CISA.
- 2023-10-20: CISA Remediation Deadline. Expiration of the CISA remediation deadline as described in [BOD 22-01](https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-22-01-reducing-significant-risk-known-exploited-vulnerabilities).
- 2023-12-15: Rule Released. CrowdSec releases a rule to detect CVE-2023-20198 exploitation attempts against the CrowdSec Network.
- 2025-05-03: CrowdSec First Seen. CrowdSec observes in-the-wild exploitation of CVE-2023-20198 for the first time.

## References

- https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxe-webui-privesc-j22SaA4z
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2023/CVE-2023-20198.yaml

## Live exploitation data

The [Live Exploit Tracker page](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2023-20198) follows observed exploitation activity for CVE-2023-20198. [Request an API key](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/request-api-key) for full access to its exploitation timeline, attacking IP addresses and blocklists.