Uncontrolled resource consumption in Cisco Emergency Responder
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-400.
Summary
A vulnerability in an API endpoint of multiple Cisco Unified Communications Products could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause high CPU utilization, which could impact access to the web-based management interface and cause delays with call processing. This API is not used for device management and is unlikely to be used in normal operations of the device. This vulnerability is due to improper API authentication and incomplete validation of the API request. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to a specific API on the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition due to high CPU utilization, which could negatively impact user traffic and management access. When the attack stops, the device will recover without manual intervention.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cisco | Cisco Emergency Responder | 12.5(1)SU7; 14; 14SU3 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| Cisco | Cisco Unity Connection | 14SU3 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| Cisco | Cisco Unified Communications Manager | 12.5(1)SU7; 12.5(1)SU7a; 14SU3 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| Cisco | Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM and Presence Service | 12.5(1)SU7; 14SU3 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| Cisco | Cisco Prime Collaboration Deployment | 14SU3 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- Cisco Emergency Responder VendorCisco Affected 12.5(1)SU7; 14; 14SU3 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- Cisco Unity Connection VendorCisco Affected 14SU3 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- Cisco Unified Communications Manager VendorCisco Affected 12.5(1)SU7; 12.5(1)SU7a; 14SU3 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM and Presence Service VendorCisco Affected 12.5(1)SU7; 14SU3 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- Cisco Prime Collaboration Deployment VendorCisco Affected 14SU3 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 9
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:cisco:emergency_responder:14su3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 14su3 | Vulnerable | Cisco |
| cpe:2.3:a:cisco:prime_collaboration_deployment:14su3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 14su3 | Vulnerable | Cisco |
| cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager:12.5\(1\)su7:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 12.5(1)su7 | Vulnerable | Cisco |
| cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager:12.5\(1\)su7:*:*:*:session_management:*:*:* | 12.5(1)su7 | Vulnerable | Cisco |
| cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager:14su3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 14su3 | Vulnerable | Cisco |
| cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager:14su3:*:*:*:session_management:*:*:* | 14su3 | Vulnerable | Cisco |
| cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager_im_\&_presence_service:12.5\(1\)su7:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 12.5(1)su7 | Vulnerable | Cisco |
| cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager_im_\&_presence_service:14su3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 14su3 | Vulnerable | Cisco |
| cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unity_connection:14su3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 14su3 | Vulnerable | Cisco |
- cpe:2.3:a:cisco:emergency_responder:14su3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 14su3 Vulnerable ·Cisco
- cpe:2.3:a:cisco:prime_collaboration_deployment:14su3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 14su3 Vulnerable ·Cisco
- cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager:12.5\(1\)su7:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 12.5(1)su7 Vulnerable ·Cisco
- cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager:12.5\(1\)su7:*:*:*:session_management:*:*:* Versions 12.5(1)su7 Vulnerable ·Cisco
- cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager:14su3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 14su3 Vulnerable ·Cisco
- cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager:14su3:*:*:*:session_management:*:*:* Versions 14su3 Vulnerable ·Cisco
- cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager_im_\&_presence_service:12.5\(1\)su7:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 12.5(1)su7 Vulnerable ·Cisco
- cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unified_communications_manager_im_\&_presence_service:14su3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 14su3 Vulnerable ·Cisco
- cpe:2.3:a:cisco:unity_connection:14su3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 14su3 Vulnerable ·Cisco
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-20259
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-x67r-8jfc-3r5m
- 2026-10-05 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
References
Advisory 1
More Cisco Emergency Responder vulnerabilities
- TI-2021-19919 Apache Log4j2 JNDI features do not protect against attacker controlled LDAP and other JNDI related endpoints KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2005-00319 Multiple TCP implementations with Protection Against Wrapped Sequence Numbers (PAWS) with… CVSS 2.0MEDIUM 5.0
- TI-2023-06808 Hard-coded credentials in Cisco Emergency Responder CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2017-09109 Improper authentication in Cisco Voice Operating System CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2008-01106 The Disaster Recovery Framework (DRF) master server in Cisco Unified Communications… CVSS 2.0HIGH 10.0
- TI-2004-01636 The default installation of Cisco voice products, when running the IBM Director Agent on… CVSS 2.0HIGH 10.0
Sources
- CVE-2023-20259 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-20259 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-x67r-8jfc-3r5m · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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