CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-20238 — Cisco Broadworks Application Delivery Platform security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 10

A vulnerability in the single sign-on (SSO) implementation of Cisco BroadWorks Application Delivery Platform and Cisco BroadWorks Xtended Services Platform could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to forge the credentials required to access an affected system. This vulnerability is due to the method used to validate SSO tokens. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the application with forged credentials. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to commit toll fraud or to execute commands at the privilege level of the forged account. If that account is an Administrator account, the attacker would have the ability to view confidential information, modify customer settings, or modify settings for other users. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need a valid user ID that is associated with an affected Cisco BroadWorks system.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
10 (3.1)
Published
2023-09-06
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-287

Affected products

  • cisco / broadworks_application_delivery_platform / ri.2023.06
  • cisco / broadworks_application_delivery_platform / ri.2023.07
  • cisco / broadworks_xtended_services_platform
  • cisco / broadworks_xtended_services_platform / 2023.06
  • cisco / broadworks_xtended_services_platform / 2023.07

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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