# CVE-2023-20045: Command injection in Cisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware

> Authenticated administrators can execute arbitrary root commands on Cisco Small Business RV routers via crafted web requests.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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:** 19 Jan 2023
- **Updated:** 2 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-fxmm-jp7q-8qvp

## What is CVE-2023-20045?

CVE-2023-20045 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware, 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 web-based management interface of Cisco Small Business RV160 and RV260 Series VPN Routers could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device.

 This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to the web-based management interface of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands using root-level privileges on the affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid Administrator-level credentials on the affected device.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation), CWE-77 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20045?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Cisco Rv160 Vpn Router Firmware, Cisco Rv160w Wireless-Ac Vpn Router Firmware, Cisco Rv260 Vpn Router Firmware, Cisco Rv260p Vpn Router With Poe Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20045?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20045 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20045 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20045 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware

- [CVE-2021-1289](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1289/): Cisco Small Business RV160, RV160W, RV260, RV260P, and RV260W VPN Routers Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-1290](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1290/): Cisco Small Business RV160, RV160W, RV260, RV260P, and RV260W VPN Routers Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-1291](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1291/): Cisco Small Business RV160, RV160W, RV260, RV260P, and RV260W VPN Routers Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-1292](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1292/): Cisco Small Business RV160, RV160W, RV260, RV260P, and RV260W VPN Routers Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-1293](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1293/): Cisco Small Business RV160, RV160W, RV260, RV260P, and RV260W VPN Routers Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20045 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20045 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware, 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-2023-20045 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Small Business RV Series Router Firmware. 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-2023-20045/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20045/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20045
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20045
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20045

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20045/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.