# CVE-2023-20235: Privilege escalation in Cisco IOS XE Software

> Authenticated attackers can gain root access on Cisco IOS XE devices by exploiting privileged Docker containers in application development mode.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 4 Oct 2023
- **Updated:** 25 Feb 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-j6h7-r25f-wgww

## What is CVE-2023-20235?

CVE-2023-20235 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 4 Oct 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the on-device application development workflow feature for the Cisco IOx application hosting infrastructure in Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access the underlying operating system as the root user.

 This vulnerability exists because Docker containers with the privileged runtime option are not blocked when they are in application development mode. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using the Docker CLI to access an affected device. The application development workflow is meant to be used only on development systems and not in production systems.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management), CWE-552 (Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20235?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios Xe.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20235?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20235 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20235 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20235 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-2023-20235 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20235 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 4 Oct 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20235 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-2023-20235/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20235/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20235
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20235
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20235

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20235/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.