VDB-229299 · CVE-2023-20166 · EUVD-2023-24345

Cisco Identity Services Engine path traversal

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
5.6	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Cisco Identity Services Engine. It has been rated as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing. Performing a manipulation results in path traversal. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2023-20166. The attack must be initiated from a local position. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Cisco Identity Services Engine (Policy Management Software) (version unknown). It has been classified as problematic. This affects an unknown function. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a path traversal vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-24. The product uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize "../" sequences that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an authenticated attacker to perform path traversal attacks on the underlying operating system to either elevate privileges to root or read arbitrary files. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker must have valid Administrator credentials on the affected device. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

The weakness was shared 05/18/2023 as cisco-sa-ise-traversal-ZTUgMYhu. It is possible to read the advisory at sec.cloudapps.cisco.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-20166 since 10/27/2022. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available. The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1006 according to MITRE ATT&CK.

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2023-24345). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Policy Management Software

Vendor

Cisco

Name

Identity Services Engine

License

commercial

Website

Vendor: https://www.cisco.com/

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.6
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.6

VulDB Base Score: 4.2
VulDB Temp Score: 4.0
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 6.7
NVD Vector: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 6.0
CNA Vector (Cisco Systems, Inc.): 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
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💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
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Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
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Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Path traversal
CWE: CWE-24 / CWE-23 / CWE-22
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Timelineinfo

10/27/2022 🔍
05/18/2023 +203 days 🔍
05/18/2023 +0 days 🔍
08/25/2025 +830 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: cisco.com

Advisory: cisco-sa-ise-traversal-ZTUgMYhu
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2023-20166 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2023-20166
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-229299
EUVD: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 05/18/2023 09:10
Updated: 08/25/2025 17:22
Changes: 05/18/2023 09:10 (48), 06/10/2023 13:58 (11), 08/25/2025 17:22 (15)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.