CVE-2023-20216 Privilege escalation in Cisco BroadWorks

Medium 4.4 Published 3 Aug 2023 Updated 2 Aug 2024

Authenticated local attackers with specific roles can elevate privileges to root and execute arbitrary commands on Cisco BroadWorks servers.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: An administrator
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2023-20216?

CVE-2023-20216 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco BroadWorks, published on 3 Aug 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 privilege management functionality of all Cisco BroadWorks server types could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to root on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to incorrect implementation of user role permissions. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the application as a user with the BWORKS or BWSUPERADMIN role and issuing crafted commands on an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands beyond the sphere of their intended access level, including initiating installs or running operating system commands with elevated permissions. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-732, CWE-269

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20216?

It affects 12 products.

Products include Cisco Broadworks Application Delivery Platform, Cisco Broadworks Application Server, Cisco Broadworks Database Server, Cisco Broadworks Execution Server, Cisco Broadworks Media Server, Cisco Broadworks Network Database Server and 6 more.

How do I fix CVE-2023-20216?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20216 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Is CVE-2023-20216 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20216 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-cqj5-c26p-jcv4.