CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-20036 — Cisco Industrial Network Director security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.9

A vulnerability in the web UI of Cisco IND could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands with administrative privileges on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper input validation when uploading a Device Pack. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by altering the request that is sent when uploading a Device Pack. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM on the underlying operating system of an affected device. Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.9 (3.1)
Published
2024-11-15
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-78

Affected products

  • cisco / industrial_network_director

Matched remediation archetype

Command, code, expression, and template injection

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
  • Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
  • Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.

Remediate safely

  • Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
  • Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
  • Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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