CVE-2023-20025: cisco cisco small business rv series router firmware Using Referer Field for Authentication

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2023-20025 is a critical (CVSS 9.8) Using Referer Field for Authentication vulnerability in cisco cisco small business rv series router firmware. EPSS estimates a 1.63% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 76% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 19-01-2023
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 12-03-2025
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Small Business RV016, RV042, RV042G, and RV082 Routers could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper validation of user input within incoming HTTP packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to the web-based management interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass authentication and gain root access on the underlying operating system.

• CWE-293Using Referer Field for AuthenticationThe referer field in HTTP requests can be easily modified and, as such, is not a valid means of message integrity checking.
• CWE-290Authentication Bypass by SpoofingThis attack-focused weakness is caused by incorrectly implemented authentication schemes that are subject to spoofing attacks.