dbcve.org
Telepresence Video Communication ServerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2023-20105

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 change password functionality of Cisco Expressway Series and Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with Read-only credentials to elevate privileges to Administrator on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to incorrect handling of password change requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the application as a Read-only user and sending a crafted request to the web-based management interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to alter the passwords of any user on the system, including an administrative user, and then impersonate that user. Note: Cisco Expressway Series refers to the Expressway Control (Expressway-C) device and the Expressway Edge (Expressway-E) device.

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

Authenticated privilege escalation in Cisco Expressway Series and TelePresence VCS where a Read-only user can send crafted requests to the web management interface to change passwords of any user including administrators, due to incorrect handling of password change authorization checks.

MitigationApply Cisco security patches when available; restrict management interface access to trusted networks; monitor for unauthorized password change activity; consider network segmentation for management interfaces.

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
Telepresence Video Communication ServerApplication
Affected:<= x14.0.3

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

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 Cisco Telepresence VCS or Expressway installation
    Check system inventory or run 'show version' on the device CLI to confirm the product name
    Affected if Product is Cisco Telepresence Video Communication Server or Cisco Expressway Series
  2. Check installed software version
    Use CLI command 'xStatus' or access the web interface System Information page to view the exact version number
    Affected if Version is x14.0.3 or earlier (any version <= x14.0.3)
  3. Verify web management interface is enabled
    Check the device configuration via CLI using 'xConfiguration SystemUnitWebServer' or inspect HTTP/HTTPS accessibility on port 443
    Affected if Web management interface is enabled and accessible
  4. Confirm presence of Read-only user accounts
    Review user accounts in the web interface under User Settings or use CLI 'xConfiguration User' to list all defined users
    Affected if One or more Read-only user accounts exist in the system
  5. Audit for password change operations in logs
    Review System Logs (Event Log) in the web interface or use CLI 'eventlog' command, focusing on password modification events
    Affected if Logs show password changes performed by Read-only users or unexpected password modifications

The environment is affected if Cisco Telepresence VCS or Expressway version is x14.0.3 or earlier and the web management interface with Read-only users is accessible.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Cisco security patches when available; restrict management interface access to trusted networks; monitor for unauthorized password change activity; consider network segmentation for management interfaces.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Any version greater than x14.0.3 (e.g., x14.1 or later, or the latest available stable release)

  1. Confirm current version of Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) or Cisco Expressway Series
  2. Download and install the latest available version from Cisco software downloads at software.cisco.com
  3. After upgrade, verify that the password change vulnerability is resolved by testing with a Read-only account
  4. Ensure all user passwords are rotated after the upgrade as a security best practice
Caveat Review Cisco release notes for the target version for any configuration or behavioral changes before upgrading

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

Fix this in Telepresence Video Communication Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,280
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,648.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20105 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-20105 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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