# CVE-2023-20040: Path traversal in Cisco Network Services Orchestrator

> An authenticated admin can cause denial of service by uploading crafted packages that write or delete arbitrary files via NETCONF.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Jan 2023
- **Updated:** 2 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v96g-9h62-76pj

## What is CVE-2023-20040?

CVE-2023-20040 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Network Services Orchestrator, published on 19 Jan 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the NETCONF service of Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) on an affected system that is running as the root user. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must be a member of the admin group.

 This vulnerability exists because user-supplied input is not properly validated when NETCONF is used to upload packages to an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by uploading a specially crafted package file. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to write crafted files to arbitrary locations on the filesystem or delete arbitrary files from the filesystem of an affected device, resulting in a DoS condition. 

 Note: By default, during install, Cisco NSO will be set up to run as the root user unless the --run-as-user option is used.

Weakness: CWE-434 (Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type), CWE-23 (Relative Path Traversal)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20040?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Network Services Orchestrator.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20040?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20040 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20040 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20040 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Network Services Orchestrator

- [CVE-2018-0274](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0274/): Command injection in Cisco Network Services Orchestrator unknown (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2024-20366](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20366/): Privilege escalation in Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2018-0463](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0463/): Cisco Network Services Orchestrator Network Plug and Play Information Disclosure Vulnerability (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2021-1132](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1132/): Cisco Network Services Orchestrator Path Traversal Vulnerability (medium 5.3)
- [CVE-2024-20369](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20369/): Open redirect in Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (medium 4.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20040 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20040 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Network Services Orchestrator, published on 19 Jan 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20040 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Network Services Orchestrator. 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-2023-20040/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20040/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20040
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20040
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20040

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20040/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.