Industrial Network DirectorApplication · Cisco

CVE-2023-20036

CRITICAL · 9.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.11.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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 · unedited
A vulnerability in the web UI of Cisco IND could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands with administrative privileges on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper input validation when uploading a Device Pack. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by altering the request that is sent when uploading a Device Pack. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM on the underlying operating system of an affected device. Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

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 confidence

A command injection vulnerability in Cisco IND's web UI allows authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands with NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM privileges by manipulating Device Pack upload requests due to improper input validation.

MitigationApply Cisco software updates to address this vulnerability; no workarounds are available.

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
Industrial Network DirectorApplication
Affected:< 1.11.3

CVSS 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if Cisco Industrial Network Director is installed
    Check for the installation directory at C:\Program Files\Cisco\IND or look for the 'CiscoIND' service in Windows Services (services.msc)
    Affected if The product is not installed or the service does not exist - not affected
  2. Determine the installed version of Cisco IND
    Access the web UI, log in, and navigate to Help > About, or check the version in the installation directory if accessible
    Affected if Version is present and less than 1.11.3 - likely affected
  3. Verify the web UI is accessible
    Attempt to reach the IND web interface via browser at https://<hostname>:<port> (default port typically 8443)
    Affected if Web UI is not accessible - not affected (but may change if enabled)
  4. Check if Device Pack upload feature is accessible
    In the web UI, navigate to Administration > Device Packs or similar menu option where Device Packs can be uploaded
    Affected if Feature is accessible to the authenticated user - vulnerable attack surface exists

If Cisco Industrial Network Director is installed, running version 1.11.2 or earlier, and the web UI with Device Pack upload is accessible to authenticated users, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.11.3 or later
Fixed in 1.11.3
Interim mitigation

Apply Cisco software updates to address this vulnerability; no workarounds are available.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.11.3 or later

  1. Upgrade Cisco Industrial Network Director (IND) to version 1.11.3 or later to remediate the command injection vulnerability

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Industrial Network Director Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,840
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,144.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20036 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-20036 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data