# CVE-2023-20013: Command injection in Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance

> Authenticated administrators can execute arbitrary root commands via crafted software package uploads due to insufficient input validation.

- **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 Aug 2023
- **Updated:** 21 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vx48-jg76-pq22

## What is CVE-2023-20013?

CVE-2023-20013 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance, published on 16 Aug 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco Intersight Private Virtual Appliance could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands using root-level privileges. The attacker would need to have Administrator privileges on the affected device to exploit these vulnerabilities.

 These vulnerabilities are due to insufficient input validation when extracting uploaded software packages. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by authenticating to an affected device and uploading a crafted software package. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands on the underlying operating system with root-level privileges.

Weakness: CWE-77 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command), CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20013?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Intersight Private Virtual Appliance.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20013?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20013 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20013 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20013 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance

- [CVE-2023-20017](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20017/): Command injection in Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20013 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20013 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance, published on 16 Aug 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20013 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Intersight Virtual 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-2023-20013/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20013/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20013
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20013
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20013

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20013/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.