CVE-2023-20216

A vulnerability in the privilege management functionality of all Cisco BroadWorks server types could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to root on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to incorrect implementation of user role permissions. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the application as a user with the BWORKS or BWSUPERADMIN role and issuing crafted commands on an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands beyond the sphere of their intended access level, including initiating installs or running operating system commands with elevated permissions. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.

Published: 2023-08-03 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-20216 is rated Low Risk (19.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.15%). Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

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-2023-20216

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 0.04% 0.15% +0.11%
2 2023-08-04 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-20216

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:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful 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 3.6 [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-2023-20216

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-20216

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco broadworks_application_delivery_platform < ri.2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_application_delivery_platform:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_application_server < 23.0.2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_application_server:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_application_server < 2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_application_server:*:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_application_server >= 24.0, < 24.0.2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_application_server:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_database_server < 2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_database_server:*:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_execution_server < 2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_execution_server:*:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_media_server < 2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_media_server:*:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_network_database_server < 2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_network_database_server:*:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_network_function_manager < 2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_network_function_manager:*:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_network_server < 23.0.2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_network_server:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_network_server < 2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_network_server:*:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_profile_server < 23.0.2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_profile_server:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_profile_server < 2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_profile_server:*:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_service_control_function_server < 2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_service_control_function_server:*:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_troubleshooting_server < 2023.06 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_troubleshooting_server:*:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_xtended_services_platform < 23.0.2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_xtended_services_platform:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_xtended_services_platform < 2023.05 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_xtended_services_platform:*:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-20216

cvelogic Threat Intelligence