Secure Network AnalyticsApplication · Cisco
CVE-2023-20102
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Secure Network Analytics could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system. This vulnerability is due to insufficient sanitization of user-provided data that is parsed into system memory. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system as the administrator user.
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 · high confidenceA vulnerability in Cisco Secure Network Analytics web-based management interface allows an authenticated remote attacker to execute arbitrary code as administrator due to insufficient sanitization of user-provided data parsed into system memory, exploitable via crafted HTTP requests.
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
Secure Network AnalyticsApplication
<= 7.4.1
Stealthwatch Management Console 2200 FirmwareOperating system
all versionsCVSS 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
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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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Identify the installed Cisco productCheck system inventory or running services for 'Cisco Secure Network Analytics' or 'Stealthwatch Management Console 2200'. Use commands like 'show version', 'dpkg -l', or check the management console login page banner for product name.Affected if The product is Cisco Secure Network Analytics or Cisco Stealthwatch Management Console 2200
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Check Cisco Secure Network Analytics versionAccess the web management interface and navigate to the About or System Info page, or run 'sudo rpm -q steak' or similar package query command if CLI access is available. Note the exact version number.Affected if The installed version is 7.4.1 or lower, or the version cannot be determined (implies affected for Stealthwatch which has no version constraint)
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Verify web-based management interface is accessibleConfirm the management web interface port (typically 443 or 8443) is listening and reachable. Use 'netstat -tlnp | grep -E '443|8443'' or test connectivity to the management IP on those ports.Affected if The web management interface is exposed and reachable on the network
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Review HTTP access logs for anomalous requestsExamine web server access logs (typically in /var/log/apache2, /var/log/nginx, or management interface logs) for unusual POST requests, especially those containing suspicious characters, unexpected paths, or encoded payloads.Affected if Logs contain malformed or suspicious HTTP requests that could indicate exploitation attempts
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Check for unauthorized administrator accountsReview the list of admin users in the management interface under User Administration or Administrator Settings. Look for unfamiliar accounts, especially those created recently or with elevated privileges.Affected if New or unauthorized administrator accounts exist in the system
You are affected if you are running Cisco Secure Network Analytics version 7.4.1 or lower, or any version of Stealthwatch Management Console 2200, and the web-based management interface is accessible to network users.
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 vendor patch from Cisco for Secure Network Analytics; until then, limit access to the web management interface to trusted users only and monitor for suspicious HTTP requests.
Fix this in Secure Network Analytics
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,832.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20102 — 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-2023-20102 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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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.
- 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
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