CVE-2023-20050 | Cisco NX-OS Software CLI Command Injection Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments that are passed to specific CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including crafted input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with the privileges of the currently logged-in user.

Published: 2023-02-23 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-20050 is rated Low Risk (23.3/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.25%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-20050

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.17% 0.25% +0.08%
2 2026-05-20 0.08% 0.17% +0.09%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.08% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-20050

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.4 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.8 2.5 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-20050

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-20050

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco nx-os — cpe:2.3:o:cisco:nx-os:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco nx-os < 8.2\(9\) cpe:2.3:o:cisco:nx-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco nx-os < 9.3\(10\) cpe:2.3:o:cisco:nx-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco nx-os < 10.2\(4\) cpe:2.3:o:cisco:nx-os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-20050

cvelogic Threat Intelligence