CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-20029 — Cisco Ios Xe security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

A vulnerability in the Meraki onboarding feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to gain root level privileges on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient memory protection in the Meraki onboarding feature of an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying the Meraki registration parameters. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to root.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2023-03-23
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-122

Affected products

  • cisco / ios_xe / 17.7.1
  • cisco / ios_xe / 17.8.1

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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