ACTIVELY EXPLOITED
CVE-2023-20273: Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection Vulnerability
| Vendor | Cisco |
|---|---|
| Product | Cisco IOS XE Web UI |
| Actively exploited | Yes |
| Added to CISA KEV | 23 Oct 2023 |
| CISA federal deadline | 27 Oct 2023 |
| Weakness (CWE) | CWE-78 |
Required action (CISA's text)
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.
Description (NVD)
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.
SOURCES
Other Cisco flaws
- CVE-2026-20320: Cisco BroadWorks Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference Vulnerability
- CVE-2026-76418: Cisco Secure Firewall ASA Software and Cisco Secure FTD Software Unchecked Return Value to NULL Pointer Dereference Vulnerability
- CVE-2026-76519: Cisco Secure Email Gateway Relative Path Traversal Vulnerability
- CVE-2026-76504: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Hex Encoding Vulnerability
- CVE-2026-76460: Cisco Identity Services Engine Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs Vulnerability
Data from NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS and vendor advisories. Updated 10 Nov 2026.