dbcve.org
Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2023-20231

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 UI of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to perform an injection attack against an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted input to the web UI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary Cisco IOS XE Software CLI commands with level 15 privileges. Note: This vulnerability is exploitable only if the attacker obtains the credentials for a Lobby Ambassador account. This account is not configured by default.

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

A command injection vulnerability in the Cisco IOS XE Software web UI allows an authenticated attacker with Lobby Ambassador credentials to execute arbitrary CLI commands with level 15 (administrative) privileges by sending crafted input due to insufficient input validation.

MitigationEnsure the Lobby Ambassador account is not configured on affected devices, and apply Cisco's official IOS XE software updates when available. If the account is required, enforce strong credential practices and restrict network access to the web UI.

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
Ios XeOperating system
Affected:= 16.12.4= 16.12.4a= 16.12.5= 16.12.5a= 16.12.5b= 16.12.6= 16.12.6a= 16.12.7= 16.12.8= 16.12.9= 17.2.2= 17.2.3

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify Cisco IOS XE version
    Execute 'show version' or 'show version | include IOS XE' on the device CLI to retrieve the software version.
    Affected if The version matches any of these: 16.12.4, 16.12.4a, 16.12.5, 16.12.5a, 16.12.5b, 16.12.6, 16.12.6a, 16.12.7, 16.12.8, 16.12.9, 17.2.2, or 17.2.3.
  2. Verify web UI is enabled
    Execute 'show ip http server status' or 'show running-config | include ip http' to check if the HTTP/HTTPS web UI server is active.
    Affected if HTTP or HTTPS server is enabled (any ip http server or ip https server configuration present).
  3. Check for Lobby Ambassador user account
    Execute 'show running-config | include username' to list all locally configured usernames, then cross-reference with the Lobby Ambassador account name configured on the system.
    Affected if A user account with Lobby Ambassador privileges exists on the device.
  4. Verify user privilege level
    Execute 'show privilege' or check user privilege configuration via 'show running-config | include privilege' to determine if the Lobby Ambassador account has elevated (level 15) privileges.
    Affected if The Lobby Ambassador account has privilege level 15 (administrative).

A device is affected if it runs a matching IOS XE version, has the web UI enabled, and has a Lobby Ambassador account configured with level 15 privileges.

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

Ensure the Lobby Ambassador account is not configured on affected devices, and apply Cisco's official IOS XE software updates when available. If the account is required, enforce strong credential practices and restrict network access to the web UI.

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2023-20231 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