Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco
CVE-2023-20022
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedMultiple vulnerabilities in specific Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) CLI commands could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform command injection attacks on the underlying operating system and elevate privileges to root. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker must have valid Administrator privileges on the affected device. These vulnerabilities are due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by submitting a crafted CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to root.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceCisco ISE contains command injection vulnerabilities in specific CLI commands where insufficient validation of user-supplied input allows an authenticated Administrator to inject OS commands and elevate privileges to root. The attack requires local CLI access with valid admin credentials.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Identity Services EngineApplication
= 3.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Cisco ISE is installedAccess the system and check for Cisco ISE processes or verify the appliance is running. On the CLI, log in and run 'show version' or check the admin web UI for the product banner.Affected if Cisco ISE is not present on the system, the CVE does not apply.
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Retrieve the Cisco ISE versionLog into the Cisco ISE CLI as an admin and execute 'show version' to obtain the installed software version. Alternatively, log into the Cisco ISE administrative web UI and navigate to Administration > System > Settings > Product Version to view the version.Affected if The version displayed is 3.2 (exact match).
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Compare the installed version against affected rangeReview the version output from step 2. Cisco ISE version 3.2 is the only version listed as affected for this CVE.Affected if The installed version is exactly 3.2.
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Verify admin CLI access is enabledConfirm that the CLI administrative interface is accessible with valid administrator credentials. Check whether local admin accounts exist and can log into the CLI using 'login' from the console or SSH.Affected if The vulnerability requires an authenticated Administrator with CLI access. If no admin accounts exist or CLI access is disabled, the exploit path is not available.
If Cisco ISE version 3.2 is running and admin CLI access is available, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the Cisco ISE security patch for CVE-2023-20022 when available. Until then, limit CLI administrative access to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious command patterns.
Fix this in Identity Services Engine
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,392.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20022 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-20022 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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