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Evolved Programmable Network ManagerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2023-20121

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.10.4 / 7.0.1 or later.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Multiple vulnerabilities in the restricted shell of Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM), Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), and Cisco Prime Infrastructure could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escape the restricted shell and gain root privileges on the underlying operating system. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

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

Multiple vulnerabilities in the restricted shell of Cisco EPNM, ISE, and Prime Infrastructure allow authenticated local attackers to escape the restricted shell and execute commands with root privileges on the underlying operating system.

MitigationApply the vendor patches released by Cisco for the affected products; restrict local administrative access and monitor for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.

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
Evolved Programmable Network ManagerApplication
Affected:< 7.0.1
Identity Services EngineApplication
Affected:= 3.2
Prime InfrastructureApplication
Affected:< 3.10.4

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify if affected Cisco products are installed
    Check for running processes or installation directories: look for 'epnm', 'ise', or 'prime' related processes, or check common installation paths like /opt/CSCOepnm, /opt/CSCOise, /opt/pi
    Affected if Any of these Cisco products (EPNM, ISE, or Prime Infrastructure) are installed on the system
  2. Check Cisco EPNM version
    If EPNM is installed, run 'show version' in the EPNM CLI or check /opt/CSCOepnm/version.txt for the installed version
    Affected if Installed version is lower than 7.0.1
  3. Check Cisco ISE version
    If ISE is installed, run 'ise version' in the ISE CLI or check the admin web interface under Administration > System > System Info for the version
    Affected if Installed version equals 3.2 (exact match)
  4. Check Cisco Prime Infrastructure version
    If Prime Infrastructure is installed, run 'show version' in the PI CLI or check /opt/PI/version.txt for the installed version
    Affected if Installed version is lower than 3.10.4
  5. Verify local administrative access exists
    Review local user accounts that have shell or CLI access to the affected system, as the vulnerability requires authenticated local access
    Affected if Local user accounts with shell or restricted shell access exist on the affected product

The environment is affected if any of these Cisco products (EPNM < 7.0.1, ISE = 3.2, or Prime Infrastructure < 3.10.4) are installed and local authenticated users have access to the restricted shell.

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 3.10.4 / 7.0.1 or later
Fixed in 3.10.47.0.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patches released by Cisco for the affected products; restrict local administrative access and monitor for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

EPNM: 7.0.1+ | ISE: see Cisco advisory for fixed version | Prime Infrastructure: 3.10.4+

  1. 1. Identify the current version of the affected Cisco product (EPNM, ISE, or Prime Infrastructure) using the product's web interface or CLI
  2. 2. For Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM): Download and install version 7.0.1 or later from Cisco's software download center
  3. 3. For Cisco Prime Infrastructure: Download and install version 3.10.4 or later from Cisco's software download center
  4. 4. For Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE): Check the Cisco advisory for the specific fixed version for ISE 3.2 (the advisory at sec.cloudapps.cisco.com contains complete fix information)
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the restricted shell configuration and test that command injection is no longer possible
  6. 6. Review user access to ensure only authorized personnel have authenticated local access

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

Fix this in Evolved Programmable Network Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
26.0 hours of engineering $4,560
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,296.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-20121 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