{"cve":"CVE-2023-20082","nvd":{"published":"2023-03-23T17:15:14.953","modified":"2026-06-17T05:29:26.223","status":"Modified","description":"A vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker with level-15 privileges or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to the device to execute persistent code at boot time and break the chain of trust. This vulnerability is due to errors that occur when retrieving the public release key that is used for image signature verification. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying specific variables in the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) flash memory of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute persistent code on the underlying operating system. Note: In Cisco IOS XE Software releases 16.11.1 and later, the complexity of an attack using this vulnerability is high. However, an attacker with level-15 privileges could easily downgrade the Cisco IOS XE Software on a device to a release that would lower the attack complexity.","cvss_v4":null,"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","score":6.8},"cwes":["CWE-78"],"references":["https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-c9300-spi-ace-yejYgnNQ","https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-c9300-spi-ace-yejYgnNQ"],"products":["cisco:ios_xe"],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T21:37:48.383111019+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2023-20082","score":0.00375,"percentile":0.31498,"date":"2026-10-31"},"kev":null,"osv":[],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}