CVE-2023-20273
Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection Vulnerability
IN CISA KEV
Cisco IOS XE contains a command injection vulnerability in the web user interface. When chained with CVE-2023-20198, the attacker can leverage the new local user to elevate privilege to root and write the implant to the file system. Cisco identified CVE-2023-20273 as the vulnerability exploited to deploy the implant. CVE-2021-1435, previously associated with the exploitation events, is no longer believed to be related to this activity.
- Vendor
- Cisco
- Product
- Cisco IOS XE Web UI
- CVSS
- No score recorded (no NVD record loaded for this entry)
- CWE
- CWE-78
- Published
- Not recorded
- NVD modified
- Not recorded
CISA KEV
- Date added
- 2023-10-23
- Due date
- 2023-10-27
- Ransomware use
- Unknown
- Required action
- Verify that instances of Cisco IOS XE Web UI are in compliance with BOD 23-02 and apply mitigations per vendor instructions. For affected products (Cisco IOS XE Web UI exposed to the internet or to untrusted networks), follow vendor instructions to determine if a system may have been compromised and immediately report positive findings to CISA.
EPSS
93.0% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (percentile 99th)
FIRST EPSS, updated 17 Oct 2026. About EPSS
CVSS is severity, EPSS is likelihood, KEV means already exploited. EPSS is a statistical probability, not a certainty: a low score does not make a bug safe, and a high one does not prove it is being exploited.
Data last updated 18 Oct 2026. Sources: NVD API 2.0, CISA KEV catalog, FIRST EPSS. Links: NVD, CISA KEV. Metadata only. ThreatWire does not host exploit code.