Broadworks Application Delivery PlatformApplication · Cisco
CVE-2023-20238
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 single sign-on (SSO) implementation of Cisco BroadWorks Application Delivery Platform and Cisco BroadWorks Xtended Services Platform could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to forge the credentials required to access an affected system. This vulnerability is due to the method used to validate SSO tokens. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the application with forged credentials. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to commit toll fraud or to execute commands at the privilege level of the forged account. If that account is an Administrator account, the attacker would have the ability to view confidential information, modify customer settings, or modify settings for other users. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need a valid user ID that is associated with an affected Cisco BroadWorks system.
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 confidenceA critical vulnerability in the SSO implementation of Cisco BroadWorks platforms allows attackers to forge authentication credentials due to improper validation of SSO tokens. An attacker with a valid user ID can bypass authentication and gain access at the privilege level of the forged account, enabling toll fraud or command execution, with administrative accounts providing full access to modify settings and view confidential data.
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
Broadworks Application Delivery PlatformApplication
= ri.2023.06= ri.2023.07
Broadworks Xtended Services PlatformApplication
< 23.0.1075.ap384245= 2023.06= 2023.07CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 the Cisco BroadWorks productDetermine if the system is running either Cisco Broadworks Application Delivery Platform or Cisco Broadworks Xtended Services Platform by checking the installed software inventory or system documentationAffected if The system runs either product family
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Check Application Delivery Platform versionLocate the version information for Cisco Broadworks Application Delivery Platform and compare it against the affected versions: ri.2023.06 or ri.2023.07Affected if The version equals ri.2023.06 or ri.2023.07
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Check Xtended Services Platform versionLocate the version information for Cisco Broadworks Xtended Services Platform and compare it against the affected versions: 2023.06, 2023.07, or versions earlier than 23.0.1075.ap384245Affected if The version is 2023.06, 2023.07, or less than 23.0.1075.ap384245
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Confirm SSO is enabledReview the system configuration to determine if the Single Sign-On (SSO) feature is actively implemented and in useAffected if SSO is enabled and the product version matches the affected ranges
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Audit for unauthorized accessReview authentication and access logs for legitimate user accounts being used from unexpected locations, times, or with unusual activity patterns that may indicate credential forgeryAffected if Evidence exists of unauthorized access using valid user credentials
A user is affected if their environment runs Cisco BroadWorks Application Delivery Platform (ri.2023.06 or ri.2023.07) or Xtended Services Platform (2023.06, 2023.07, or below 23.0.1075.ap384245) with SSO enabled, or if evidence of credential forgery is found in access logs.
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.
From vendor data23.0.1075.ap384245
Apply Cisco patches for CVE-2023-20238 immediately. Until patched, restrict network access to affected systems and monitor for unauthorized access using valid user accounts.
Fix this in Broadworks Application Delivery Platform
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20238 — 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-2023-20238 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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