# CVE-2017-6623: Privilege escalation in Cisco Policy Suite

> An authenticated local attacker can escalate privileges to root via incorrect sudoers permissions in a Cisco Policy Suite script.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 May 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hrrj-w527-vh57

## What is CVE-2017-6623?

CVE-2017-6623 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Policy Suite, published on 18 May 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in a script file that is installed as part of the Cisco Policy Suite (CPS) Software distribution for the CPS appliance could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escalate their privilege level to root. The vulnerability is due to incorrect sudoers permissions on the script file. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the device and providing crafted user input at the CLI, using this script file to escalate their privilege level and execute commands as root. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to acquire root-level privileges and take full control of the appliance. The user has to be logged-in to the device with valid credentials for a specific set of users. The Cisco Policy Suite application is vulnerable when running software versions 10.0.0, 10.1.0, or 11.0.0. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvc07366.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management), CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-6623?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Policy Suite.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-6623?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-6623 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-6623 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-6623 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Policy Suite

- [CVE-2021-40119](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40119/): Cisco Policy Suite Static SSH Keys Vulnerability (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-0089](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0089/): Information disclosure in Cisco Policy Suite (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2017-6781](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6781/): Privilege escalation in Policy Suite (medium 5.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-6623 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-6623 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Policy Suite, published on 18 May 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-6623 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Policy Suite. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6623/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6623/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-6623
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-6623
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-6623

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6623/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.