# CVE-2023-20171: Cisco Identity Services Engine Arbitrary File Delete and File Read Vulnerabilities

> Authenticated attackers can delete or read arbitrary files on the underlying operating system of Cisco Identity Services Engine devices.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N`)
- **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:** 18 May 2023
- **Updated:** 25 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6mfr-vxff-cv6g

## What is CVE-2023-20171?

CVE-2023-20171 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine, published on 18 May 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an authenticated attacker to delete or read arbitrary files on the underlying operating system. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker must have valid credentials on an affected device. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation), CWE-602 (Client-Side Enforcement of Server-Side Security)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20171?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Identity Services Engine.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20171?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20171 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20171 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Identity Services Engine

- [CVE-2026-76460](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76460/): Cisco Identity Services Engine Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-20337](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20337/): Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-20281](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20281/): Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-20130](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20130/): Cisco Identity Services Engine Hardening Release - Improper Neutralization Vulnerabilities (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2026-20192](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20192/): Cisco Identity Services Engine Hardening Release - Access Control Vulnerabilities (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20171 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20171 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine, published on 18 May 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-2023-20171 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Identity Services Engine. 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-2023-20171/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20171/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20171
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20171
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20171

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20171/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.