Unified Communications ManagerApplication · Cisco
CVE-2023-20211
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 Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition (Unified CM SME) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct SQL injection attacks on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to improper validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the application as a user with read-only or higher privileges and sending crafted HTTP requests to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read or modify data in the underlying database or elevate their privileges.
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 confidenceSQL injection vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Unified CM SME web-based management interface due to improper validation of user-supplied input. An attacker with authenticated access (read-only or higher privileges) can send crafted HTTP requests to inject malicious SQL queries, enabling data exfiltration or privilege escalation in the underlying database.
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
Unified Communications ManagerApplication
>= 12.5\(1\), < 12.5\(1\)sub= 14.0CVSS 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 installed Cisco Unified Communications Manager versionAccess the Cisco Unified CM Administration interface and navigate to About > Version, or use the CLI command 'show version' via SSH to retrieve the exact software versionAffected if The displayed version is 12.5(1) through the latest 12.5(1) sub-release before the patch, or equals 14.0(1)
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Confirm presence of Unified CM SME web management interfaceVerify the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition (SME) web-based management interface is enabled by checking the service status in Cisco Unified Serviceability or reviewing the web interface URL accessibility at the standard administration portAffected if The web-based management interface for Unified CM or Unified CM SME is accessible and running
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Check for active user accounts with web interface accessReview user accounts in Cisco Unified CM Administration under User Management > End Users or LDAP synchronization status to identify accounts with read-only or higher privileges that have web interface accessAffected if Any authenticated user account with read-only or higher privileges exists in the system
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Verify web interface is exposed to networkDetermine if the web management interface is reachable from untrusted networks by reviewing firewall rules, ACLs, or VPN configurations protecting the Cisco Unified CM serversAffected if The web management interface is accessible from networks outside the trusted internal network
Your environment is affected if you are running Cisco Unified Communications Manager version 12.5(1) through any pre-patch 12.5(1) sub-version or version 14.0(1), and the web-based management interface is enabled and accessible with authenticated user accounts.
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.
dbcve · scoped12.5
Apply the relevant Cisco security patch for CVE-2023-20211; upgrade to a fixed release of Unified CM/Unified CM SME as specified in Cisco's advisory. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict access to the web management interface to trusted IP addresses only using access control lists.
Upgrade to Unified CM 12.5(1)SU9 or later, or 14.0(1)SU3 or later
- 1. Identify the current Cisco Unified Communications Manager version by navigating to Cisco Unified Reporting or checking the About page in the admin interface
- 2. Navigate to the Cisco Software Download page at https://software.cisco.com/ and log in with your Cisco credentials
- 3. Locate Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CallManager) and download the fixed release: 12.5(1)SU9 or later, or 14.0(1)SU3 or later
- 4. Review the release notes for the chosen version to confirm CVE-2023-20211 is listed as resolved
- 5. Schedule a maintenance window and create a full system backup/snapshot before upgrading
- 6. Follow the Cisco Unified CM upgrade procedure: upload the .iso file to the TFTP server or use the Bulk Administration Tool if applicable
- 7. Initiate the upgrade through the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration interface or via command line using the utils system upgrade command
- 8. Verify the upgrade completed successfully by checking the version in the About page
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Unified Communications Manager
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20211 — 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-2023-20211 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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