CVE-2023-20121 | Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager, Cisco Identity Services Engine, and Cisco Prime Infrastructure Command Injection Vulnerabilities

Multiple vulnerabilities in the restricted shell of Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM), Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), and Cisco Prime Infrastructure could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escape the restricted shell and gain root privileges on the underlying operating system. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

Published: 2023-04-05 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-20121 is rated Moderate Risk (43/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.31%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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-2023-20121

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 2026-04-16 0.25% 0.31% +0.06%
2 2026-04-13 0.07% 0.25% +0.18%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.07% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-20121

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.0 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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: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.
 0.8 5.2 [email protected]
6.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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: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.
 0.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-20121

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-20121

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco evolved_programmable_network_manager < 7.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:evolved_programmable_network_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco identity_services_engine 3.2 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.2:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco prime_infrastructure < 3.10.4 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:prime_infrastructure:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-20121

cvelogic Threat Intelligence