# CVE-2023-20105: Privilege escalation in Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) Expressway

> Authenticated remote attackers with Read-only credentials can elevate privileges to Administrator by exploiting incorrect password change handling in Cisco Expressway and VCS.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 28 Jun 2023
- **Updated:** 2 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8vgw-329g-hrw6

## What is CVE-2023-20105?

CVE-2023-20105 is a critical vulnerability in Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) Expressway, published on 28 Jun 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the change password functionality of Cisco Expressway Series and Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with Read-only credentials to elevate privileges to Administrator on an affected system.

 This vulnerability is due to incorrect handling of password change requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the application as a Read-only user and sending a crafted request to the web-based management interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to alter the passwords of any user on the system, including an administrative user, and then impersonate that user.

 Note: Cisco Expressway Series refers to the Expressway Control (Expressway-C) device and the Expressway Edge (Expressway-E) device.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20105?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Telepresence Video Communication Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20105?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20105 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20105 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20105 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) Expressway

- [CVE-2023-20192](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20192/): Cisco Expressway Series and Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server Privilege Escalation Vulnerabilities (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2022-20754](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20754/): Cisco Expressway Series and Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server Vulnerabilities (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2022-20755](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20755/): Cisco Expressway Series and Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server Vulnerabilities (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2016-1468](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-1468/): Command injection in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-1845](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1845/): Denial of service in Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) (high 8.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20105 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20105 is a critical vulnerability in Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) Expressway, published on 28 Jun 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20105 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server (VCS) Expressway. 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-2023-20105/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20105/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20105
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20105
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20105

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20105/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.