CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-20214 — Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.1

A vulnerability in the request authentication validation for the REST API of Cisco SD-WAN vManage software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain read permissions or limited write permissions to the configuration of an affected Cisco SD-WAN vManage instance. This vulnerability is due to insufficient request validation when using the REST API feature. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted API request to an affected vManage instance. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to retrieve information from and send information to the configuration of the affected Cisco vManage instance. This vulnerability only affects the REST API and does not affect the web-based management interface or the CLI.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.1 (3.1)
Published
2023-08-03
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-287

Affected products

  • cisco / catalyst_sd-wan_manager
  • cisco / catalyst_sd-wan_manager / 20.6.3.3
  • cisco / sd-wan_vmanage

Showing 3 representative product identities from 6 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

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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