CVE-2023-20009 [Medium] | Input Validation Bypass in Email Security Appliance

A vulnerability in the Web UI and administrative CLI of the Cisco Secure Email Gateway (ESA) and Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager (SMA) could allow an authenticated remote attacker and or authenticated local attacker to escalate their privilege level and gain root access. The attacker has to have a valid user credential with at least a [[privilege of operator - validate actual name]]. The vulnerability is due to the processing of a specially crafted SNMP configuration file. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the targeted device and uploading a specially crafted SNMP configuration file that when uploaded could allow for the execution of commands as root. An exploit could allow the attacker to gain root access on the device.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	0.31%	1.26%	+0.95%
2	2026-05-23	0.18%	0.31%	+0.13%
3	2026-02-18	—	0.18%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

0.31%

1.26%

+0.95%

2026-05-23

0.18%

0.31%

+0.13%

2026-02-18

—

0.18%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
6.5	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:H) They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:N) Service keeps running; no real outage angle.	1.2	5.2	[email protected]
7.2	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:H) They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.2	5.9	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

6.5

3.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H): They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N): Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

1.2

5.2

[email protected]

7.2

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H): They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.2

5.9

[email protected]

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-20009

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
cisco	email_security_appliance	< 12.5.3-041	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:email_security_appliance::::::::
cisco	email_security_appliance	>= 13.0.0, < 13.0.5-007	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:email_security_appliance::::::::
cisco	email_security_appliance	>= 13.5.0, < 13.5.4-038	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:email_security_appliance::::::::
cisco	email_security_appliance	>= 14.0.0, < 14.2.1-020	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:email_security_appliance::::::::
cisco	email_security_appliance	>= 14.3.0, < 14.3.0-032	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:email_security_appliance::::::::
cisco	secure_email_and_web_manager	< 12.8.1-021	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_email_and_web_manager::::::::
cisco	secure_email_and_web_manager	>= 13.8.0, < 13.8.1-108	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_email_and_web_manager::::::::
cisco	secure_email_and_web_manager	>= 14.0.0, < 14.2.0-224	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_email_and_web_manager::::::::
cisco	secure_email_and_web_manager	>= 14.3.0, < 14.3.0-120	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_email_and_web_manager::::::::

References for CVE-2023-20009

URL	Tags
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-esa-sma-privesc-9DVkFpJ8	Vendor Advisory

URL

CVE-2023-20009

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-20009

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-20009

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-20009

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-20009

References for CVE-2023-20009