# CVE-2023-20063: Cisco Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software and Cisco Firepower Management Center Code Injection Vulnerability

> Authenticated local attackers with admin privileges can execute arbitrary commands with root permissions via insufficient input validation in inter-device communication.

- **Severity:** High 8.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 1 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 16 Dec 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-q7p5-7677-gx8j

## What is CVE-2023-20063?

CVE-2023-20063 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center, published on 1 Nov 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the inter-device communication mechanisms between devices that are running Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software and devices that are running Cisco Firepower Management (FMC) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands with root permissions on the underlying operating system of an affected device.

This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by accessing the expert mode of an affected device and submitting specific commands to a connected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of an FMC device if the attacker has administrative privileges on an associated FTD device. Alternatively, a successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of an FTD device if the attacker has administrative privileges on an associated FMC device.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation), CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20063?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center, Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20063?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20063 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20063 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20063 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center

- [CVE-2026-20079](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20079/): Cisco Firewall Management Center Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-20131](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20131/): Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) Software and Cisco Security Cloud Control (SCC) Firewall Management Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-20316](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20316/): Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Use of Hard-coded Password (medium 5.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-20265](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20265/): Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Software Radius Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2024-20424](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20424/): Command injection in Cisco Firepower Management Center (critical 9.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20063 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20063 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center, published on 1 Nov 2023. 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-2023-20063 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center. 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-2023-20063/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20063/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20063
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20063
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20063

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20063/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.