The tech world never sleeps, and that means new vulnerabilities show up all the time. One you need to know about is CVE-2023-20060, a serious web-based management flaw in Cisco Prime Collaboration Deployment. In this post, I'll break down what this means, how the attack works, show you a simple code example, and point you to the official sources for further details.
What is CVE-2023-20060?
CVE-2023-20060 is a security vulnerability found in the web-based management interface of Cisco Prime Collaboration Deployment (PCD). This is a tool often used to manage and deploy Cisco collaboration solutions. The issue specifically allows an unauthenticated, remote attacker — that’s anyone on the internet — to perform a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against users of the web interface.
In simpler terms:
An attacker can make you (or any admin) click a crafted link which, in turn, could run malicious code right inside your web browser, as if it was a real part of the Cisco interface.
Why is this Dangerous?
- No login needed: The attacker doesn’t need any sort of access to the system. Just persuading you to click a link is enough.
- Steals info: If you’re logged in, this code can steal sensitive data, like session cookies or configurations.
How Does the Attack Work?
It all comes down to input validation — or the lack thereof. The web interface does not properly check or clean up the data users provide (like through URL parameters or forms). So, if an attacker slips in some malicious JavaScript, the page will happily include it and run it inside your browser.
Here’s the basic attack flow
1. Attacker crafts a special link containing JavaScript code in a parameter, like http://pcd-server/page?param=<script>malicious stuff</script>.
Let’s see a basic example. Suppose the vulnerable page is at
http://pcd-server.example.com/display?name=
If the page doesn’t clean the name parameter, you can inject JavaScript like so
http://pcd-server.example.com/display?name=<script>alert('XSS!')</script>
What happens?
If an admin or user clicks this, they’ll see a popup that says "XSS!" — harmless in this demonstration, but it could just as easily steal your session or do something worse.
A simplified representation of what the vulnerable code might look like
<!-- Imagine this is part of the Cisco PCD Web Interface -->
<html>
<body>
Hello, <span id="name"><?php echo $_GET['name']; ?></span>
</body>
</html>
If the input isn’t sanitized, whatever gets put into name is placed right in the page!
Can I Fix This Myself?
Unfortunately, no workaround exists at this time. Cisco’s official advice is to wait for a software update.
Official documentation on this problem
- Cisco Security Advisory: CVE-2023-20060
A useful summary
What Should You Do Now?
- Don’t click suspicious links in emails or messages, especially if they’re directing you to your Prime Collaboration Deployment portal.
Monitor Cisco’s update channels to apply patches as soon as they’re released.
- Consider network controls (like limiting external access to the PCD web interface) as a temporary mitigation.
Closing Thoughts
XSS vulnerabilities like CVE-2023-20060 are serious, mostly because they’re so easy to exploit and hard for end users to detect. Until Cisco releases a fix, administrators should stay vigilant and never click on links unless you are absolutely certain of their source.
Stay safe, and keep your software up to date!
*Written exclusively for this blog. For more detailed discussions or remediation tips, stay tuned to Cisco’s official security updates.*
Timeline
Published on: 11/15/2024 15:20:01 UTC