CVE-2023-20238

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.

Published: 2023-09-06 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-20238 is rated High Risk (76.2/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 46.60%, 98th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +1.99% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize 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-2023-20238

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 2026-06-01 44.62% 46.60% +1.99%
2 2026-05-14 30.71% 44.62% +13.91%
3 2026-03-27 — 30.71% —

Full EPSS history (21 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-20238

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
10.0 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
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.
 3.9 6.0 [email protected]
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-20238

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-20238

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco broadworks_application_delivery_platform ri.2023.06 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_application_delivery_platform:ri.2023.06:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_application_delivery_platform ri.2023.07 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_application_delivery_platform:ri.2023.07:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_xtended_services_platform < 23.0.1075.ap384245 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_xtended_services_platform:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_xtended_services_platform 2023.06 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_xtended_services_platform:2023.06:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*
cisco broadworks_xtended_services_platform 2023.07 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:broadworks_xtended_services_platform:2023.07:*:*:*:release_independent:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-20238

cvelogic Threat Intelligence