CVE-2023-20198
Critical10.0CISA KEV — exploited in the wildCisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation Vulnerabilityname from CISA KEV
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.
- CVSS
- 10.0v3.1
- EPSS (exploit probability)
- 99.6%100th pct
- CISA KEV
- Listed
EPSS trendFIRST daily scores, last 90 days
Daily values
| Score date | EPSS | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-05 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-11-04 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-11-03 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-11-02 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-11-01 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-31 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-30 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-29 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-28 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-27 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-26 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-25 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-24 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-23 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-22 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-21 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-20 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-19 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-18 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-17 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-16 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-15 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-14 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-13 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-12 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-11 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-10 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-09 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-08 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-07 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| 2026-10-06 | 99.6% | 99.9% |
CISA KEV entrycatalogue 2026.11.04
- Date added
- 2023-10-16
- Federal due date
- 2023-10-20
- Known ransomware use
- Unknown
Required action
Verify that instances of Cisco IOS XE Web UI are in compliance with BOD 23-02 and apply mitigations per vendor instructions. For affected products (Cisco IOS XE Web UI exposed to the internet or to untrusted networks), follow vendor instructions to determine if a system may have been compromised and immediately report positive findings to CISA.
Verbatim from the CISA KEV catalogue (CISA KEV, fetched 2026-11-05 16:20 UTC). The due date applies to US federal agencies under BOD 22-01.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Learn
Why it happened and what stops it
The weakness (CWE)
How attackers use it (ATT&CK)
CTID's mapping of this CVE from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities.
How it's exploited
What the attacker gets
Controls that mitigate it (NIST SP 800-53)
- AC-2Account ManagementAccess Control · mitigates 2 of these techniques
- AC-3Access EnforcementAccess Control · mitigates 2 of these techniques
- AC-4Information Flow EnforcementAccess Control · mitigates 2 of these techniques
- AC-5Separation of DutiesAccess Control · mitigates 2 of these techniques
- AC-6Least PrivilegeAccess Control · mitigates 2 of these techniques
- CM-5Access Restrictions for ChangeConfiguration Management · mitigates 2 of these techniques
Affected products
- rockwellautomation allen-bradley stratix 5200 firmware
- rockwellautomation allen-bradley stratix 5200
- rockwellautomation allen-bradley stratix 5800 firmware
- rockwellautomation allen-bradley stratix 5800
- cisco ios xe