Dna CenterApplication · Cisco
CVE-2023-20223
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 Cisco DNA Center could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to read and modify data in a repository that belongs to an internal service on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient access control enforcement on API requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted API request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read and modify data that is handled by an internal service on the affected 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 · high confidenceCisco DNA Center contains an API authorization bypass vulnerability where insufficient access control enforcement on API requests allows unauthenticated, remote attackers to read and modify data in repositories belonging to internal services. The attack vector is crafted API requests sent to the affected device.
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
Dna CenterApplication
< 2.3.5.4CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Cisco DNA Center is present in your environmentIdentify Cisco DNA Center appliances in your network inventory or check running services on management interfacesAffected if The product is present and you cannot confirm it has been upgraded to version 2.3.5.4 or later
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Determine the installed version of Cisco DNA CenterAccess the Cisco DNA Center administrative interface or CLI and retrieve the current software version informationAffected if The installed version is lower than 2.3.5.4 (for example, 2.3.3.x, 2.3.4.x, or earlier releases)
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Verify API access is enabled on the management interfaceCheck the Cisco DNA Center network settings or firewall rules to confirm the API service (typically port 443 or the /dna/ API endpoint) is accessible from network segments used by the attack vectorAffected if The API endpoint is reachable from untrusted or external network segments without additional access controls
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Review API request logging for suspicious unauthorized accessExamine Cisco DNA Center audit logs or API access logs for repeated API calls to internal service repositories from unauthenticated or unexpected sourcesAffected if Unauthenticated API requests are observed accessing internal service repositories or returning data that should require authorization
Your environment is affected if Cisco DNA Center is installed with a version lower than 2.3.5.4 and the API interface is accessible to the network segment from which the attack originates.
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 · scoped2.3.5.4
Apply the Cisco patch/upgrade for Cisco DNA Center that addresses this vulnerability. In the interim, implement network segmentation and restrict API access through firewalls to limit exposure to untrusted networks.
2.3.5.4 or later
- Back up current Cisco DNA Center configuration and data
- Verify current installed version is below 2.3.5.4
- Obtain Cisco DNA Center version 2.3.5.4 or later from Cisco official download channels
- Review Cisco DNA Center upgrade documentation for version 2.3.5.4
- Execute upgrade following Cisco's standard DNA Center upgrade procedure
- Verify the upgrade was successful and the new version is 2.3.5.4 or later
- Validate that the API access controls are now properly enforced
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Dna Center
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20223 — 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-2023-20223 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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