# CVE-2023-20082: Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches Secure Boot Bypass Vulnerability

> Authenticated or physical attackers can bypass Secure Boot on Cisco Catalyst 9300 switches to execute persistent code at boot time.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 23 Mar 2023
- **Updated:** 28 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c6f2-hw3g-3568

## What is CVE-2023-20082?

CVE-2023-20082 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 23 Mar 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker with level-15 privileges or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to the device to execute persistent code at boot time and break the chain of trust. This vulnerability is due to errors that occur when retrieving the public release key that is used for image signature verification. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying specific variables in the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) flash memory of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute persistent code on the underlying operating system. Note: In Cisco IOS XE Software releases 16.11.1 and later, the complexity of an attack using this vulnerability is high. However, an attacker with level-15 privileges could easily downgrade the Cisco IOS XE Software on a device to a release that would lower the attack complexity.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20082?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios Xe.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20082?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20082 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20082 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20082 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios Xe

- [CVE-2023-20198](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20198/): Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-0151](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0151/): Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software Quality of Service Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-20273](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20273/): Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection (high 7.2, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-20188](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20188/): Hardcoded credentials in Cisco IOS XE Software (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-34770](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-34770/): Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9000 Family Wireless Controllers CAPWAP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20082 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20082 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 23 Mar 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-2023-20082 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Ios Xe. 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-2023-20082/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20082/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20082
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20082
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20082

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20082/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.