Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection Vulnerability

Are you affected?

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• cpe cisco/ios xe16.1.1
• cpe cisco/ios xe16.1.2
• cpe cisco/ios xe16.1.3
• cpe cisco/ios xe16.2.1
• cpe cisco/ios xe16.2.2
• cpe cisco/ios xe16.3.1a
• cpe cisco/ios xe16.3.2
• cpe cisco/ios xe16.3.3
• vendor Cisco Cisco IOS XE Web UIversion unspecified
• vendor Cisco IOS XE Web UIversion unspecified

How to fix CVE-2023-20273

• Recommended remediation

  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. CISA due date Oct 27, 2023.

• Official advisories

  • CISA KEV · cisa.gov
  • CVE.org · cve.org
  • FIRST EPSS · first.org
  • NIST NVD · nvd.nist.gov
  • VulnCheck KEV · vulncheck.com

What to do

Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.

Technology hubs

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

No public source repository is identified for this product.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

1. Oct 23, 2023 · Catalog

   Detected

   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 b

2. Oct 23, 2023 · CISA KEV

   Known exploited

   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.

3. Oct 27, 2023 · CISA KEV

   Remediation due

   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.

4. Jun 16, 2026 · Catalog

   Updated

   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 b

Sources

• CISA KEVConfirmed exploitationCVE-2023-20273

  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 b

  cisa.gov
• CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2023-20273

  Official CVE identifier

  cve.org
• FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2023-20273

  30-day exploitation probability 89.6%

  first.org
• Metasploit ModulesPublic exploit moduleauxiliary_admin/http/cisco_ios_xe_os_exec_cve_2023_20273

  Public module reference (normal). Module source is not copied into this catalog.

  rapid7.com
• Metasploit ModulesPublic exploit moduleexploit_linux/misc/cisco_ios_xe_rce

  Public module reference (excellent). Module source is not copied into this catalog.

  rapid7.com
• NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2023-20273

  A vulnerability in the web UI feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to inject commands with the privileges of root. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted

  nvd.nist.gov
• VulnCheck KEVConfirmed exploitationCVE-2023-20273

  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 vulnerab

  vulncheck.com

References

• VulnCheck exploitation evidence · blog.talosintelligence.com
• VulnCheck exploitation evidence · blog.talosintelligence.com
• CISA note · nvd.nist.gov
• CISA note · sec.cloudapps.cisco.com
• VulnCheck exploitation evidence · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
• US Government Resource · cisa.gov
• VulnCheck exploitation evidence · cisa.gov
• VulnCheck exploitation evidence · ptsecurity.com

Freshness

Last verified in this catalog Oct 17, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.