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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 24 Mar 2025.
Rv016 FirmwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2023-20118

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS 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-based management interface of Cisco Small Business Routers RV016, RV042, RV042G, RV082, RV320, and RV325 Routers could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper validation of user input within incoming HTTP packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to the web-based management interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain root-level privileges and access unauthorized data. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to have valid administrative credentials on the affected device. Cisco has not and will not release software updates that address this vulnerability. However, administrators may disable the affected feature as described in the Workarounds ["#workarounds"] section. {{value}} ["%7b%7bvalue%7d%7d"])}]]

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 confidence

Authenticated command injection vulnerability in Cisco Small Business RV016, RV042, RV042G, RV082, RV320, and RV325 routers allows remote attackers with admin credentials to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges due to improper input validation in the web-based management interface HTTP handling.

MitigationSince Cisco will not release patches, administrators should disable the affected feature via the workarounds section; alternatively, restrict network access to the management interface or replace end-of-life devices.

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
Rv016 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Rv042 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Rv042g FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Rv082 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Rv320 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Rv325 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checks

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

  1. Identify the router model
    Access the device web interface and check the system status page, or query the device via SNMP, or examine the HTTP response headers for model identification strings (look for RV016, RV042, RV042G, RV082, RV320, or RV325 in the login page or error messages)
    Affected if The device model is any of: RV016, RV042, RV042G, RV082, RV320, or RV325
  2. Confirm firmware version is within affected range
    Check the firmware version displayed in the web interface (usually under Status, System Summary, or Administration > Firmware Upgrade). The affected versions are all versions of firmware for these models.
    Affected if Any firmware version is installed on the affected models - all versions are vulnerable
  3. Verify web-based management interface is enabled
    Check the router configuration under Administration > Remote Management or Security > Access Settings to confirm if the web-based management interface is enabled
    Affected if The web-based management interface is enabled and accessible
  4. Check if remote management access is permitted
    Examine the remote management settings to determine if HTTP management access is allowed from external networks ( WAN side). Look for settings like 'Enable Remote Management' or 'Allow management from WAN'
    Affected if Remote management via HTTP is enabled and the interface is reachable from untrusted networks, exposing the vulnerability to external attackers
  5. Verify administrative authentication configuration
    Check if default administrative credentials are in use or if weak passwords are configured. This can be confirmed by attempting to log in with default credentials (admin/admin, admin/cisco) or reviewing password complexity settings in the user administration section
    Affected if The attacker possesses valid administrative credentials or can obtain them (including via default credential guessing)

You are affected if you operate any of the listed RV-series router models and the web-based management interface is accessible to an attacker who possesses or can obtain administrative credentials.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Since Cisco will not release patches, administrators should disable the affected feature via the workarounds section; alternatively, restrict network access to the management interface or replace end-of-life devices.

Fix this in Rv016 Firmware Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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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-2023-20118 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