CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-20038 — Cisco Industrial Network Director security vulnerability

High CVSS 8.8

A vulnerability in the monitoring application of Cisco Industrial Network Director could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access a static secret key used to store both local data and credentials for accessing remote systems. This vulnerability is due to a static key value stored in the application used to encrypt application data and remote credentials. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by gaining local access to the server Cisco Industrial Network Director is installed on. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to decrypt data allowing the attacker to access remote systems monitored by Cisco Industrial Network Director.

Severity
High
CVSS
8.8 (3.1)
Published
2023-01-20
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-321, CWE-798

Affected products

  • cisco / industrial_network_director

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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