# CVE-2023-20254: Missing authorization in Cisco SD-WAN vManage

> Authenticated attackers can access other tenants' data, modify configurations, or cause denial of service in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager when multi-tenancy is enabled.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Sep 2023
- **Updated:** 16 Dec 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-r23j-cqq2-w2h2

## What is CVE-2023-20254?

CVE-2023-20254 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Cisco SD-WAN vManage, published on 27 Sep 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the session management system of the Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager multi-tenant feature could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access another tenant that is being managed by the same Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager instance. This vulnerability requires the multi-tenant feature to be enabled.

 This vulnerability is due to insufficient user session management within the Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain unauthorized access to information about another tenant, make configuration changes, or possibly take a tenant offline causing a denial of service condition.

Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20254?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Sd-Wan Manager.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20254?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20254 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20254 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20254 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20254 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20254 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Cisco SD-WAN vManage, published on 27 Sep 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20254 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco SD-WAN vManage. 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-2023-20254/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20254/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20254
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20254
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20254

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20254/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.