# CVE-2023-20009: Privilege escalation in Cisco Secure Email

> Authenticated attackers can gain root access on Cisco Secure Email Gateways by uploading a malicious SNMP configuration file.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Feb 2023
- **Updated:** 2 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rj99-fcj2-r7fw

## What is CVE-2023-20009?

CVE-2023-20009 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Email Security Appliance, published on 16 Feb 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the Web UI and administrative CLI of the Cisco Secure Email Gateway (ESA) and Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager (SMA) could allow an authenticated remote attacker and or authenticated local attacker to escalate their privilege level and gain root access. The attacker has to have a valid user credential with at least a [[privilege of operator - validate actual name]].

 The vulnerability is due to the processing of a specially crafted SNMP configuration file. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the targeted device and uploading a specially crafted SNMP configuration file that when uploaded could allow for the execution of commands as root. An exploit could allow the attacker to gain root access on the device.

Weakness: CWE-434 (Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type), CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20009?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cisco Email Security Appliance, Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20009?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20009 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20009 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20009 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- Cisco Email Security Appliance: Remote Code Execution - RCE from config file (github_poc): https://github.com/ly1g3/cisco-CVE-2023-20009

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Email Security Appliance

- [CVE-2022-20798](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20798/): Cisco Email Security Appliance and Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager External Authentication Bypass Vulnerability (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-6291](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6291/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2022-20664](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20664/): Cisco Email Security Appliance and Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager Information Disclosure Vulnerability (high 7.7)
- [CVE-2022-20960](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20960/): Denial of service in Cisco Secure Email (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2018-0419](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0419/): Security feature bypass in Email Security Appliance (ESA) (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20009 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20009 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Email Security Appliance, published on 16 Feb 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20009 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Email Security Appliance. 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-2023-20009/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20009/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20009
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20009
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20009

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20009/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.