dbcve.org
Thousandeyes Enterprise AgentApplication · Cisco

CVE-2023-20224

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.230 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 CLI of Cisco ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent, Virtual Appliance installation type, could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to root on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of user-supplied CLI arguments. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to an affected device and using crafted commands at the prompt. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root. The attacker must have valid credentials 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 confidence

This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent Virtual Appliance. An authenticated attacker with valid device credentials can inject arbitrary commands through insufficiently validated CLI arguments, bypassing normal permission boundaries to execute code with root privileges.

MitigationApply the vendor patch from Cisco when available. Until then, limit CLI access to only trusted administrators with valid credentials and implement command execution monitoring to detect exploitation 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
Thousandeyes Enterprise AgentApplication
Affected:< 0.230

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checks

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

  1. Confirm ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent installation
    Identify whether the Cisco ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent Virtual Appliance is installed on the system by looking for the product binaries, services, or documentation files typical of this appliance.
    Affected if the appliance software is present on the system
  2. Determine installed version
    Use the appropriate command or method to retrieve the installed version of the Cisco ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent. Compare this version against the affected range of versions prior to 0.230.
    Affected if the installed version is lower than 0.230
  3. Verify CLI access configuration
    Inspect the CLI configuration and accessibility settings to determine whether remote or local CLI access is enabled and how authentication is configured.
    Affected if CLI access is enabled and uses authentication mechanisms that could be leveraged by an authenticated attacker
  4. Review CLI command logging
    Examine CLI audit logs, command history, or execution logs for any unusual or unauthorized commands that may indicate exploitation attempts, particularly commands running with elevated privileges.
    Affected if unexpected or suspicious CLI commands are found in logs, especially those suggesting privilege escalation

A user is affected if Cisco ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent Virtual Appliance is installed with a version lower than 0.230 and the CLI interface is accessible to authenticated attackers.

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 0.230 or later
Fixed in 0.230
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch from Cisco when available. Until then, limit CLI access to only trusted administrators with valid credentials and implement command execution monitoring to detect exploitation attempts.

Recommended fix High confidence

0.230 or later

  1. 1. Back up the current ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent configuration and data.
  2. 2. Verify current installed version using 'te-agent --version' or through the agent's web interface.
  3. 3. Download the ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent version 0.230 or later from the official Cisco/ThousandEyes download portal.
  4. 4. Stop the ThousandEyes agent service using 'sudo systemctl stop te-agent' or equivalent service command.
  5. 5. Install the upgraded agent package using the appropriate package manager for the Virtual Appliance (e.g., dpkg, rpm, or the provided installer script).
  6. 6. Verify the installation completed successfully.
  7. 7. Start the ThousandEyes agent service using 'sudo systemctl start te-agent' or equivalent.
  8. 8. Confirm the new version is running using 'te-agent --version'.

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

Fix this in Thousandeyes Enterprise Agent Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,400
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,840.

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-2023-20224 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